Balghis Badri Feminist Perspectives in the Sudan Februar 2006 gender...politik...

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Inhalt

Feminist Perspectives in the Sudan

An analytical overview
by Balghis Badri

1. Introducing the Sudan 2

1.1. Profile 2
1.2. The political context in the Sudan: 2
1.3. Sudanese Civil Society Activisms/ Actions 3

Section 2 4
2.1. Sudanese Women: Different Identities 4
2.2. Sudanese gender development indicators: 6
2.3. Conclusion 7

Section 3/Feminism in Sudan 7

3.1. Conceptualizing Feminism 7
3.2. Evolution of Feminism in the Sudan 1957-1989 9
3.3. The feminist movement 1989-2005 11
3.4. The all Sudanese women’s movement polarisation 15

4. Conclusion 17

5. References 18

6. Endnotes 18

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 Balghis Badri Feminist Perspectives in the Sudan Februar 2006 gender...politik...online

Feminist Perspectives in the Sudan

An analytical overview
by Balghis Badri

A paper presented on the workshop “Feminist Perspectives”, Free University Berlin, 26th-27th May 2005

The main aim of this paper is to document and map the The natural diversity is compounded by a religious di-
contemporary Sudanese women’s movement, which mostly versity, where Islam is the main religion (app. 75%);
evolved during the past two decades. There is almost no Christianity (20%) and indigenous religions (5%) com-
literature on this period. In this paper the movement is bined form a rather significant minority.
analysed both through the lens of contemporary feminis-
tic discourses and in terms of its transnationality. A defi- - The ethnic profile corresponds to the Sudanese di-
nition of feminism in the Sudan is adopted and discussed versity patterns and is classified into seven main
at the beginning of section three. groups: The descendants of Arab-Africans mainly in
the Northern and the Central Sudan. Here the do-
This paper will be divided into three main sections. minant tribes are the Galyin, the Shaygia, and the
The first part will introduce the Sudan, followed by an Danagla.
introduction of Sudanese women in history and of the - The Nilotic Africans living mainly in the Southern
diversities and challenges women face. This introduction Sudan, their main tribes are the Dinka, the Nuer, and
is crucial to contextualise the characteristics of the mo- the Shuluk.
vement. - The Africans of Nuba mountains origin claiming to
be amongst the most ancient groups.
Section three will establish the history of the Sudanese - The Beja of the Eastern Sudan who claim a hematic
women’s movement in the modern Sudan 1951-1985, fol- origin.
lowed by the movement in the recent contemporary Sudan - Africans of West African origin, mainly the Masalit,
(1986-2005). the Zagawa, the Fur, and the Felata living mostly in
Darfour in the Western Sudan.
1. Introducing the Sudan - Other Arab nomadic groups such as the Kababish and
the Baggara, living mainly in Darfour and Kordufan.
1.1. Profile - There are other non-Nilotic African groups living in
the Southern part of the Sudan, mostly known are
The Sudan consists of a one million square mile area the Zandi and the Bar’i amongst others.
extending from North Africa to Central Africa. It shares
its borders with nine countries. Libya, Egypt to the North, Such an ethnic diversity also implies a linguistic vari-
Ethiopia, Eritrea to the East with the Red Sea bordering ety. Arabic is the lingua franca of the Sudan; however it
Saudi Arabia, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the is the mother tongue of less than half the population.
Congo, the Republic of Kenya to the South, Chad, the Cen- It is the official language, English the second langua-
tral African Republic to the West. It stretches from sun- ge. There are several other indigenous languages and
parched deserts of the North to the equatorial rain forests dialects.
and swamps of the South. The Nile is the most important
source and resource of livelihood in the Sudan. 1.2. The political context in the Sudan:

This location setting influences the diversity of cultures The Sudan gained independence in 1956 on the back
and politics within the Sudan. Furthermore the diversity of a male elite movement and has been ruled by various
is a result of environmental factors as the Sudan stretches governments comprised of different political elites over
over a large area. The desert covers 35% of the country the years. In 1956-1958 an elected government ruled
while 20% are semi-desert and fuel wood plains comprise and was overthrown in November 1958 by a military
8%. The remaining 37% consist of high and low savannah coup, the resulting military regime maintained power
plains and hilly areas mostly in the Central, Southern and until 1964. In October 1964 a popular uprising brought
Western Sudan. the regime down and an interim government (1964-

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 Balghis Badri Feminist Perspectives in the Sudan Februar 2006 gender...politik...online

1965) consisting of the main political parties and the in- dan. The SPLM led a war against the national go-
dependent elites prepared democratic elections. In the vernment in Khartoum dominated by northern eli-
following four years an elected government again ruled tes reclaiming their rights, equality, recognition
the Sudan based on democratic principles. But in May of diversity, development and justice in power and
1969 another military coup took place led by leftist com- wealth sharing. The long war ended in the recent
munists and protagonists of arabisation projects who pre- comprehensive peace agreement, signed in Janua-
served their power for 16 years. Another popular uprising ry 2005. This agreement includes the Southerners’
in 1985 once more overthrew the military regime and yet right for self determination and allows them to hold
another elected government formed from the two main a referendum in favour of an independent state of
political parties ruled the country in a coalition. Other Southern Sudan in 2011; it furthermore rules that
Islamic, communist and regionally oriented parties were the Islam is not to be a source of legislation in the
also represented in the parliament leading the oppositi- South.
on. However, in June 1989 the military coup of Al-Ignaz - The Sudanese National Party, primarily representing
supported the Islamist groups in their struggle to come to the Nuba was formed in the 1960s, gained one seat
power. Thus they declared the Islamic Front government, in the 1986 elections and currently has become an
which remains until today. ally to the SPLA.
- The Beja Congress in the Eastern Sudan, founded in
Despite the length of the military rule the Sudan has the 1980s, also gained a seat in the 1986 elected
strong political parties who played a role in gaining inde- parliament. The Beja Congress is currently leading a
pendence and who maintained their work throughout the war against the Ignaz-government and finds support
military rule. The main political parties are: from the SPLA.

- The UMMA party, formed in the 1940s, has been elected In 2001 a newly formed Equality and Justice Party
into government twice and once had a significant role is mainly active in Darfour, as well as the 2002 newly
in the opposition. It is characterised by both enligh- reformed Sudanese Liberation Front. Both Muslim oppo-
tened Islamic interpretations and secular principles as sitional parties are leading a war against the Khartoum
a basis for their political program and as a vision for national government. The Darfour and Eastern war are
ruling the multifaceted Sudan. ongoing and negotiations are continuing.
- The Democratic People Union, founded in the 1940s,
has once ruled exclusively and twice in coalition with There are other small political parties registered under
the UMMA party. It has a similar outlook but sports the 1998 constitution and political parties act.
more supporters from the private sector and is hence
more open to market principles. 1.3. Sudanese Civil Society Activisms/ Actions
- The Communist party, founded in the early 1950s, gai-
ned three seats in the 1986 elected parliament. Their An overall brief profile of the nongovernmental actors
main voters are the educated youth and labourers. is also needed to contextualise the Sudanese women’s
- The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in the late 1950s, activism we shall discuss later.
became a part of the National Islamic Front (NIF) in
the mid 1960s. They won 50 seats in the parliamentary The Sudanese civil society can be considered active
elections of 1986. They are currently divided into the since the time of colonialism. There have been tradi-
ruling party National Congress and the People’s Con- tional, middle range actors like the conventional tribal
gress in the opposition. The latter is led by Dr. Hassan chiefs and their council, the graduations congress of
el-Turabi who was amongst the main founders of the 1930-45 which led to the evolution of Sudanese po-
Muslim Brotherhood in the Sudan and of the Islamic litical parties, the various Sudanese philanthropic and
Front. saving groups at grass root levels, teachers both as in-
- The Sudanese African National Union (SANU), founded dividuals and affiliated in association unions, mainly
in the early 1950s, was mainly active in the Southern by opening schools since the 1930s, the private sector
Sudan. helping and contributing to the above group initiations
- The Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), in a non formal way on individual basis.
founded in the late 1970s, is mainly active in the Su-

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Trade unions in Sudan were active during periods of de- to various churches or Islamic sects are also quite fre-
mocracy, but their impact as an opposition force ended in quent and are also polarised between those politicising
July 1989, when following a coup they regrouped in sup- their work pro and anti governmental. The civil society
port of the government and reduced the extent to which scene is vibrant; while not united in vision and goals,
they promoted and protected their constituencies. it is diverse in source of funding and capacities; all are
The current civil society is polarised between pro gov- still mainly based in Khartoum, elitist in speech and
ernment Islamist foundations, organisations, associations do not reach the majority of the population. Religious
and unions on the one end and those with a different and tribal groupings such as Sufust Islamic sects and
perspective. churches remain greatly un-reached by NGO and INGO
activities and themselves so not form a coherent body,
The NGO sector is also influenced by the political con- with the exception of Christian churches that became
text. Under the May regime, NGO activities were curtailed organised under the Sudanese Council of Churches.1 The
and only scientific NGOs, branches of international NGOs gross of the people remain greatly unorganised and do
such as the Red Cross, and family planning associations not benefit from the activities and activism organised
were allowed to register and during the democracy of 16th by the civil society lest for the few groups reached by
April 1985 – 1989 several NGOs were initiated. The June the civil society actors.
1989 coup resulted in the forced dissolution of all NGOs,
with only few passing security screening and being al- Due to the presence of war since 1955, civil society in
lowed to re-form. It has been only since 2000 when the the South has remained weak with respect to national
Government of Sudan (GoS) signed the COTNO agreement activism and remained largely dominated by interna-
as part of NEPAD that NGOs have been allowed to register tional NGOs and the Church. It must further develop
again. The GoS formed its own NGOs at that time and thus its civil society sector as well as its trade unions. The
felt pressured to allow the creation of others as well. How- above introduction of the Sudan in general reflects the
ever, a new formal body called the Humanitarian Aid Com- diversity of the Sudanese women’s profile and activities.
mission (HAC) was established by the government in 2000 Both diversity and polarisation characterise their move-
to monitor and control registration and activities of all ments as will be discussed below.
NGOs. A ministry was then established in 2003 to control
all civil society activities, especially those of humanitar- Section 2
ian or rehabilitation nature. The Civil Society Registration
Act, the Public Order Act, and the Security Act all restrict 2.1. Sudanese Women: Different Identities
civil society’s activities, requiring permission for activities
such as the holding of workshops and conferences, the As stated above the Sudan is as a country of multifac-
completion of research, etc. (Grace Paolino, Oslo Forum eted ethnicity, religion and language.
2005).
We need to shed light on the Sudanese women’s posi-
The former, pro government NGOs (GNGOs) establish tion in ancient and modern history before discussing
similar bodies as they have been established before by their contemporary different identities.
the other category of NGOs, but usually are identified by
Islamic titles assigned to them. Hence, the scene is polar- From the early Sudanese history a variety of women’s
ised by linguistic symbols. biographies is known, there where those few who had
been Queen or on the other end of the scale women who
One can broadly classify the two categories under a cer- where enslaved or served as concubines, both in quite
tain reserve as Islamists pro government (GNGOs) here contrary positions to the many “normal” women.
and secularist NGOs there.
In the current context there are those who are hold-
Both categories include human rights activists, legal- ing ministerial posts and top decision making positions,
ist groups, peace building groups, Anti AIDS, reproduc- those who are experiencing rape, abduction or torture,
tive health, education, media and various other develop- and again the majority of women living so called “nor-
ment program activists, research, consultancy and charity mal” biographies.
groups, as well as networks. Religious groups affiliated

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The Marawatic kingdom is the most ancient civilisation in the Western Sudan and have been acknowledged in
the Sudan has witnessed; it supposedly ruled over both Sudanese history and in different parts of the contem-
the Northern Sudan and lower Egypt before our time. porary Sudan. They execute a leadership role as far as
provoking war and encouraging tribesmen to seek re-
It is known that Sudanese queens and princesses also venge and to keep the honour of a tribe or in a few
reigned, as well as the queens in the kingdoms of the cases encouraging peace building and forgiveness. The
Southern Sudan amongst the Shuluk and Anuak. former dominates their activities.

Moreover, mothers transmitted chieftainships to sons The majority of the contemporary Sudanese citizens
through a matrilineal descent as it is known to have been are living in the rural Sudan where poverty is estimated
the case in the Central Sudan. In the Fung kingdom reign- to affect 85% of the people and women are suffering
ing over Central and most of the Northern Sudan heritage hardship in finding water, collecting fuel wood and cul-
used to be passed through the mother’s line. tivating fields under harsh conditions with simple tech-
nologies only. 85% of the farmers are women particu-
Furthermore, the Fur Sultanate in the Western Sudan, larly located in the Western and Southern Sudan. Poor
mainly in Darfour, used to have a women council attended women in urban centres sell food in urban markets and
by sisters and wives of the Sultan and his main chiefs. pursue several activities including begging, liquor brew-
ing or prostitution to meet their family needs.
The eastern part of the Sudan used to not know wom-
en in authoritative political positions, yet a few female However, there are a few women who received higher
Qur’an teachers and some heads of the Khatimiya Sufists education and have reached top executive positions.
who were daughters of the “Tariga” chiefs held prominent Nevertheless a substantial number of women are em-
positions ployed in the public sector in lower positions. However,
in some urban centres like the capital, employed women
Furthermore, along traditional lines of gaining prestige represent 77% of the employees in the public and pri-
and power some contemporary women continue having an vate sectors.
ascribed privileged status as daughters, wives and mothers
of chiefs, priests and Sufist leaders (Islamic mystics). This According to statistics 35% of all women are currently
relatively high ascribed status bestows them with abilities seeking employment, which is due to increasing infla-
to play a leadership role on household or community level, tion and structural adjustment programs that severed
in conflict resolution, in leading social ceremonies, in de- social safety net interventions and hinder finding em-
cision making at neighbourhood and community level. ployment outside the public sector. This means men of-
ten can no longer be the sole breadwinners to satisfy
However, other women have managed to acquire such their family’s needs. This indicates that more Sudanese
leadership roles, prestige and value through their own ca- women are productive, be it in the formal, the infor-
pacities as traditional healers, including midwives, bones mal, the agricultural or in the pastoralist sector (CBS
healers etc., as leaders of traditional rituals, such as the 2005,Joint Assessment Mission Draft Report).
“Zar- Cult”, “Kigur”, as religious leaders in the Nuba areas
and the South, as Islamic Qur’an teachers in the Northern However, some women particularly in the Eastern Su-
and Eastern Sudan, as headmistresses in remote villages dan are mainly encapsulated within the reproductive
renowned for their wisdom and their value in giving edu- role and their space is the household. Other women in
cation, other elderly women have been renowned for their the Northern and Central Sudan and many women in ur-
wisdom and gift with proverbs and folklore to give people ban areas also confine themselves to reproductive roles
advice in personal and communal issues. Women in all but not due to cultural restrictions but rather due to a
parts of the Sudan have also been known to use poetry to lack of education, skills, capital, marketing channels or
direct the course of action, behaviour and even fashion. employment opportunities.
Men have been known to fear the force of poetry to influ-
ence people, to damage the reputation, or conversely to Sudanese women’s life styles differ between those of
praise and raise the status of men or a whole tribe. Such extreme seclusion within the household or dressing in a
women are called “Hakamat” (literally meaning judging) complete veil, both being the minority, and the majo-

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 Balghis Badri Feminist Perspectives in the Sudan Februar 2006 gender...politik...online

rity who enjoy spaces of freedom within the locality and economic activities has increased from 18% to 30%
in the community activities. The dress code of a veil is (MoLaR, 1996).
prevalent for a few women in urban centres and mainly - Women provide 37.9% of the work force. However,
amongst younger generations of Muslims. The Christians there are no women in first and second top positi-
of the different ethnic groups in the Southern Sudan, Cop- ons in the civil service. (MoLaR, 1996).
tic Egyptian or other Arab Christian descendants, Ethiopi- - There is an insignificant representation of women
an communities all obey “conservative” dress codes as it in strategic ministries (Foreign Affairs, Finance, De-
is culturally expected in all groups. fence, Judiciary). For example, there are only three
female judges in the highest and second highest
Yet, some young girls in certain night occasions do not level courts, while women work in top diplomatic
necessarily adopt the conservative dress code. Thus diffe- sectors.
rent images of Sudanese women’s dress codes are manifes- - Records show that women’s participation in election
ted along ethnic, class, or age diversities. registration and voting is higher than men’s (Natio-
nal Election Authority 2000).
Gender development indicators show an unsatisfactory - Since 1964 all constitutions have given women
picture of the Sudanese women’s position and a gender “equal rights” and abolished discrimination against
gap is the pattern in all indicators. gender, race or religion.
- At ministerial level there are only 2 female ministers
2.2. Sudanese gender development indicators: in the Ministry of Social Welfare and Social Develop-
ment and the Ministry of International Cooperation,
- Females constitute half of the population (100.97 ma- another woman acts as Legal Presidential Advisor
les to 100 females) out of an approximate population and two ambassadors are women.
for the northern regions of 28,363 million (CBS/ UNF-
PA Population Data Sheet 2003) The international human rights documents either rati-
- Maternal mortality rates (MMR) decreased from 537 to fied or signed by the Sudan and of relevance for women
509 per 1000 babies born alive in the last ten years. are:
In the six regions of North Sudan, MMR varied from
582 in Kordofan, to 559 in Khartoum, 556 in the eas- - International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cul-
tern region, 542 in Darfur, 442 in the central region, tural Rights – ratified
and 319 per 100.000 infants born alive in the nort- - International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
hern states. – ratified
- About 27% of the households are headed by women - International Convention on Elimination of All Forms
with variations between regions (26% in urban and of Racial Discrimination – ratified
13% in rural areas; SMS 1999). - ILO Treaty on Equality on Payment and Opportunity
- In education females constitute about 46% of the stu- – ratified
dents at the primary school level (SMS 1999). - Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhu-
- Female literacy varies from 24% in Western Darfour to man or Degrading Treatment or Punishment – signed
68% in Khartoum (SMS 1999). but not ratified
- In rural areas 62% females and 44% males are illitera- - Convention on the Rights of the Child – ratified
te, a figure declining in the urban areas to 34% female - First Additional Protocol to the Convention on the
and 21% male illiteracy (SMS 1999). Rights of the Child – signed but not ratified
- Both school enrolment and intake rates vary among - African Charter on Human and People’s Rights – rati-
Sudanese states to an extent of an 83 percent point fied.
difference between the highest rate of 99.7% in the
northern State and 16.6% in the Upper Nile State. This All the conventions and treaties mentioned above give
is an important issue that requires further analysis women equal rights and the state is bound to them.
and formulation of policies and strategies to bridge
this gap. The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of
- There are major gender gaps in employment, but since Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) has not been
the beginning of the 1990s women’s participation in ratified and remains the most controversial one. It is

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 Balghis Badri Feminist Perspectives in the Sudan Februar 2006 gender...politik...online

cause for debate amongst activists and causes a cleavage Section 3

amongst women between the supporters of a ratification Feminism in Sudan
and those who in opposition.
3.1. Conceptualizing Feminism
Women’s Rights in the Sudanese constitution
and laws: The diversity of women’s lives and that of the civil
society needs to be analysed by conceptualising the me-
The above treaties and conventions have had a positi- aning of feminism and the diversity in how those who
ve impact on the Sudanese constitution and laws. In the claim to be feminist perceive feminism.
constitution Sudanese women are granted equal rights as
citizen such as equality before the law, regarding the la- Feminism could be defined as a school of thought ge-
bour laws, the right to pass citizenship to their children, nerating new knowledge and methodologies to criticise
equality in political rights like voting, passive suffrage, the causes of women’s subordinate position in society
and holding any civil post including judiciary. Women and gender power relations. It can also be viewed as
are entitled equal rights compared to men in education, a collective or individual course of action to address
health, and work. However, some discriminatory articles culture, laws, attitudes, and institutions that lead to
in some laws and practices prevail regarding the occup- the women’s deprivation and to provide alternatives to
ation of positions in civil service, in the military, and in achieve gender equality, to attain women’s full rights
certain field of specialisation in education, such as pe- and to reshape the human societies to become a better
troleum and navy studies. The most discriminatory law is place for both genders to live in.
part of the family law, both the Islamic and the customary
version, and relegates women to a subordinate position of This could be considered the ideal conceptualisation
rights. We will return to this when discussing the women’s of what feminism is about.
movement agenda for actions below.
However, one can argue that feminism needs to inclu-
2.3. Conclusion de action to promote women’s quality of life materially,
culturally, politically, socially, and spiritually without
Despite the differences indicated above a certain degree engaging into scholarly debates of a feminist theory or
of communality affects all Sudanese women. Women as methodology. Such actions could be isolated national
a gender category are characterised as the subordinate ones and need not be part of a transnational feminist
gender relative to the dominant gender men. Moreover, movement. They may not get involved into a critical
women are discriminated against and subject to gender debate over the root causes of women’s subordination
based violence greatly experienced by the majority. and rather merely address the symptoms. Others may
Nevertheless, the women’s status despite a shared sub- do both.
ordinate role differs amongst themselves. The differences
are manifested along human development indicators whe- Another dimension of feminism can be related to the
reby some women do now have more access to resources agency of individuals or small groups to cross the boun-
in education, health, economic and political participati- daries that limit women’s spaces, to make the binaries
on, wealth and relative power. fluid, and to open the horizon for some change, more
The Sudanese women’s activists need to address this self value and empowerment.
challenge of diversity in life style, ethnicity, poverty, and
quality of life and need to address the issue of women’s Along this broad understanding of feminism four ma-
problems during and due to conflicts, violence against wo- jor categories of feminists groupings could be identi-
men including rape in conflict areas, as well as problems fied.
faced by all Sudanese, such as human rights violations,
political instabilities and lack of good governance. 1. Academic feminists attempt to engender main-
The next section offers a short history of the Sudanese stream disciplines by making women visible, by develo-
women’s movement, current activities and challenges of ping new theoretical frameworks and concepts to ana-
the future. lyse historical and current phenomena of gender power
relations, etc.

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 Balghis Badri Feminist Perspectives in the Sudan Februar 2006 gender...politik...online

A woman’s view and perspective is needed to revoluti- parliaments, and in the private sector, in the UN and
onise knowledge and to develop a new discipline. This is in international organisations are also active, mainly
what academic feminism is about. Furthermore, it is ne- campaigning for change of institutional nature. Hence,
cessary to produce a wealth of new knowledge and to re- despite some positive changes in law, institutional
visit the existing knowledge. However, this pursuit should structures as a result of their actions, their impact may
have a goal. not be felt on the attitudinal and behavioural level of
change which is the most important. Other agents of
In my understanding this goal is to influence the fe- change remain out of reach for feminism such as mar-
minism outside the boundaries of the academia in order ket structures, the media, and the clergy of different
to help with information, tools for advocacy, lobby and religions.
action.
4. The fourth category of feminism may not be cat-
Further, the goal is to directly influence policy makers ching the attention. It is lived by many women and/
to undertake institutional changes in law, media, educa- or men on the personal level, who critically assess the
tion, development, organisations structures etc. situation and positioning of women within their fami-
Moreover the goal is to create a change in oneself and lies, examine gender power relations and work to either
others within the academia so that colleagues and stu- change it into a more radical way of equality or autono-
dents apprehend what feminism is, become feminist and my or to manipulate situations and contexts to stretch
work for achieving its goals. the boundaries.

Consequently, academic feminism has to be both inter- The linking of the four categories is crucial, however,
disciplinary to bring feminists of different disciplines to it is not necessarily taking place on all levels and at all
work together for the promotion of feminist theories and times.
concepts. But, moreover, academic feminism has to be
transdisciplinary to cross the borders of the academia and In the following I will analyse and map the situation
to reach policy/ decision makers as well as activists in the in the Sudan along the four categories of feminism. Mo-
civil society. reover, I will take the above mentioned challenges the
majority of women face with low human development
The latter is crucial and should be the focus how to characteristics, a religious and cultural diversity, a re-
direct feminism into future dialogues on how feminism cent dynamism in civil society activities, a war context
could be made relevant for both the academia and the in Darfour, a new peace agreement with an enforced
practise. democratisation stated in the Comprehensive Peace
Agreement (CPA) into account. It is crucial to consider
2. Feminists in the civil society are neither a coherent all these variables.
group as those in the academia are to a relative degree nor
are they expected to be. On the one hand, they represent The CPA states that human rights principles are to be
the dynamism of a civil society with all its contradictions, respected in the new peaceful Sudan, it calls for the
conflicts and on the other hand they represent solidarity, development of a new constitution, a law reform, a civil
networking and complementarity. service reform, an electoral law reform, as well as the
addressing of certain governance issues. This process
Feminism in the civil society is more influenced by the has to be completed within three years, after which the
political context than is the case for feminism in the aca- Sudan has to move towards an institutionalised demo-
demia, though the latter is not isolated and also has a cracy after free elections in early 2009.
dialectical relationship with the political context.
This current situation is a historical opportunity for
3. The third face of feminism is found in formal decision Sudanese women’s activists to move ahead and get the
making institutions of the government, the United Nati- most out of these reforms.
ons and international agencies.

Feminists holding positions in ministries, committees,

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 Balghis Badri Feminist Perspectives in the Sudan Februar 2006 gender...politik...online

3.2. Evolution of Feminism in the Sudan 1957-1989 a follow-up to what had been campaigned for by the
comprehensive SWU and by all activists during the de-
The origin of the modern Sudanese women’s liberal mocratic rule of 1965-1969.
movement could be traced back to the acceptance of
women’s elementary secular education in 1907 and sub- Assessing the movement of 1951-1971 one could con-
sequently their further tuition at the teachers training clude that it was a civil society feminism geared towards
school in 1924. Even though they were only few those institutional changes mainly in laws related to women’s
women later worked as the first female Sudanese teachers rights in politics and work.
and were opening schools in different places of the Su-
dan. Travelling and living away from the family meant a It has not contributed to the revisiting of knowledge
step of bravery, activism and commitment taken in order and discourses, nor did it help in addressing cultural
to introduce change in a conservative society. Those who embedded practices or values that infringe on women
accepted to be trained as midwives and nurses, travelled ’s rights or structural causes that sustain subordination
to teach modern midwifery and worked in remote areas, issues such as fighting female genital mutilation, the
need to also be commended. Many women were active and discriminatory family law, nor did it manage to tackle
supportive in different ways, for instance in their actions a change in the educational curriculum. The movement
against the colonial rule, giving role models of women’s could be described as a women’s movement in the pu-
engagement in politics in the modern history of the 20th blic areas of work and politics engaging in activism in
century. The women forming the first women’s associati- a new and organised way. They did not want to antago-
ons in 1947 and 1949 could all be considered the mothers nise the society which was not yet prepared to disclose
of modern feminism in the contemporary Sudan. culturally accepted patterns. They wanted to safeguard
national unity.
The most collective activist work of women has been
the establishment of the Sudanese Women’s Union in Those who held political office during the period
1951, which has been working on education issues and 1972-1985 did not address institutional issues of re-
requesting equal rights in the work place, at first from the presentation in executive bodies, of establishing a
colonial rulers then from the national governments. More- women’s council, a women’s ministry for instance, nor
over, they were calling for equal political rights in voting campaigned to fill the 25% of the seats in the national
and standing for elections. The Sudanese Women’s Uni- assembly of 1977-1983 reserved for women.
on (SWU) managed to achieve their aims peacefully and
with relative ease without being confronted with opposi- It is beyond the scope of this paper to analyse why
tion. At that time the men in executive political positions this did not take place, here further research is nee-
had either secularist, nationalist or leftist agendas. They ded.
were influenced by a regional series of appeals to justice,
equality, socialism and freedom (for further details Abdel However, in a non-democratic context and with an ex-
Aziz Ahmed Ali (2003). Badri, H. 1986) and the Sudanese clusionist agenda set by the regime many women were
Women’s union as the spearhead of the feminist move- refraining from joining the regime and one would not
ment in the period 1951-1970 was mostly coherent and expect much of women’s activism during that period.
characterised by solidarity. However, polarisation along Having stated this we need to shed light on the few fe-
political affiliation started to divide the union into 3 cate- minist activities that did take place during that period.
gories, the Islamists, the leftists, and others who decided
to support Nimiri’s military regime. Some women’s organisations were allowed to regis-
ter as NGOs outside the umbrella of the Sudan Women
This division and the military rule of 1969-1985 silenced Union created by the government in 1971. Three NGOs
the civil society movement in general and had a negative were formed in 1979, one led by the Islamists known
influence on the women’s movement. Those women who as “Women’s Pioneers – Raidat al-Mara” who started a
did side with the government became involved in the po- few projects mainly advocating the lessening of bride
litical regime and were relegated to serve women in but a wealth and making marriage financially less costly. They
few aspects of a home economics nature. The continuing also used to teach Qur’an to women within the neigh-
achievements in the labour laws of 1974 and 1979 were bourhood. As they are organised as a distinct Islamist

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 Balghis Badri Feminist Perspectives in the Sudan Februar 2006 gender...politik...online

women group and as a branch of a political party, it needs ment in the period 1986-1989 was the establishment of
to be researched how far that has impacted on the future women’s sectors in all political parties, representation
activities of the Islamists. of women in top positions in some political parties and
in key ministries. However, the famine of 1984-86 and
The second NGO, the “Babiker Badri Scientific Associa- the floods of 1988 overshadowed feminist claims for
tion for Women’s Studies”, adopted two main programs. further rights and made them lose the opportunity to
The first addressed rural women in the areas of literacy, ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
income generating activities (IGA), health, awareness rai- of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), when the
sing on health and environmental issues, capacity buil- Sudan ratified the two human rights conventions.
ding for some key village leaders to continue literacy, kin-
dergarten education, health education, training midwives We characterised the second category of feminists as
and establishing a women’s resource centre to carry out those in the academia. A few academics at the Khartoum
the activities. The program attempted to replicate the ex- University and the Ahfad University for Women started
perience of women’s groups both in the region and on a critical review of women’s studies courses and of wo-
international level by adapting methods to the Sudanese men in development issues and holding conferences to
rural context thus breaking the seclusion of village wo- discuss such issues.
men. They worked in the Red Sea area, which is known for
a strong ideology requesting the women’s seclusion and Moreover, research on women’s lives, marital power,
high illiteracy rates, and in the Central Sudan in villages, women’s productive and political roles started to take
which were not reached by the large scale agricultural place since the mid seventies but became more promi-
projects of the Gazira, Rahad, Sennar and Kenana. Their nent during the eighties.
second program aimed at fighting female genital mutilati-
on (FGM) thus breaking a taboo by discussing health ha- The introduction of a university requirement course at
zards and psychological negative impacts of FGM in public university level at the Ahfad University for Women hap-
and defying justifications of its implementation, be it for pened in 1987. However, female enrolment into courses
alleged moral, religious, pleasure, or hygienic purposes. already started in 1980 and research on women’s issues
During the struggle’s first phase 1979-1985, great opposi- was common even before that.
tion from many sides including some of the state autho-
rities was prevalent. Then the momentum of the struggle At the Khartoum University the integration and tea-
gained strength and many other NGOs and networks have ching of an elective course on women’s issues started
gradually been established since 1985 to fight FGM and in 1979 in the department of sociology and continued
continue to do so. till 1990. This academic feminism led to an accumula-
tion of knowledge, introduced the women’s issue as an
The third organisation was led by diplomats’ wives, both independent discipline into academia and promoted a
Sudanese and non-Sudanese, and other activists. Its main feminist research agenda and qualitative research me-
activities were fund raising for charity purposes addres- thodologies. This paved the road for more academic fe-
sing children and women in poor families and holding minism later in the 1990s up to the present. The impact
lectures to inform foreigners about Sudanese women. It is more on graduates; young women became activists by
could barely be classified as feminist if not for their mini- joining NGOs and, moreover, linking themselves to civil
mal activities to gather and discuss a few women’s issues. servants feminists for institutional change.
The concept of fund raising organised by women is new
and their experience should be researched. Activists fitting the third category of feminist acti-
vism were civil servants who worked with the academic
However, in 1986 when democracy was restored sixteen feminists mainly to promote the need to establish a
women’s NGOs were registered and women’s activists were women’s administration or unit in important ministries
negotiating the building of a coalition to serve as um- such as the Ministry of Finance and Planning and the
brella for different women’s civil actors including political Ministry of Agriculture. Several workshops were held to
parties so as to act as a solidarity pressure group. Howe- introduce the issue to public discussions and to enga-
ver before this materialised the 1989 group took place. ge policy makers. The women’s decade proclaimed in
The most prominent achievement for the women’s move- 1985 helped them press for the representation of a

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 Balghis Badri Feminist Perspectives in the Sudan Februar 2006 gender...politik...online

women’s bureau outside the ministry of social welfare and security side stepped by registering as non-profit com-
the addressing of the children’s and women’s reproductive panies. All non-governmental groups were working with
role. Their struggle started in 1979 and brought success some caution during this period, until the context had
in 1987 during the democratic government. Moreover, UN become more hospitable when the government started
agencies, women’s sections and some embassies, mainly to recognise the importance of the civil society’s poten-
the Netherlands’s, played a positive role to support wo- tial and the international interest to work with NGOs
men executives in the civil service and in the academia. rather than with governments. Hence, a lot of space was
However, by 1991 a regression took place when the Mi- opened and many pro-governmental NGOs were establis-
nistry of Finance and Planning was reshaped, dissolving hed, and even several ‘others’ that were considered ‘anti
the planning sector and hence making the women’s unit government or independent’ were permitted registrati-
part of the Ministry of Social Welfare. on. The number of registered NGOs dealing exclusively
with women’s rights issues rose to 37 by 2003. There
Nevertheless, on the personal level of addressing are five other NGOs registered as non-profit companies
change, one could claim that many women managed to engaging the same field. Besides those, six women net-
receive higher education, gained doctoral degrees, occu- works were established. Five of them advocated peace,
pied different jobs, travelled and lived outside the Sudan, summarised as the Sudanese Women Empowerment for
adopted different life styles, used different dress repre- Peace Networks (SWEP), which was started in 1998 and
sentations for identity, headed households and started formally registered by 2003 and 2004. The sixth network
their own businesses. A flexible secular context at the is a “Women in Development” network and was estab-
private level prevailed until in 1983 a policy change led to lished in 2000. A regional network was also registered,
the declaration of the Sharia Islamic law as the sole code the “Southern Initiative for the Horn of Africa” (SIHA).
for conduct and source for legislation. It mainly addresses issues of conflict, violence against
women and women’s rights in the Horn of Africa. It was
That was the start of the rise of Islamic fundamenta- established in 2000 with its office in the Sudan at the
lism in the Sudan that had an impact in further polarizing Ahfad University for Women. The civil society of NGOs,
Sudanese women not only along political affiliation but NGO network and non-profit companies is diverse, pro-
also along ideological divisions between Islamists and se- government vs. independent or anti-government and
cularists. also in regard to programs, size of funds, and instituti-
onal and human resources capacities.

3.3. The feminist movement 1989-2005 There is a tendency of other bigger groups with large
constituencies to engage in the civil society such as
The period of 1989-2005 is characterised by the rule of unions of labourers, farmers, teachers, or students, poli-
an Islamic political party holding power after a military tical parties, organisations from the youth and women’s
coup turning over a democratically elected government. sector and the academia, state owned or not. This broad
category is usually termed non-state actors and inclu-
After the coup all NGOs were dissolved and had to re- des NGOs, political parties, unions, consultancies, non-
register in 1990. The 16 women’s NGOs that were estab- profit groups and the academia, both state owned and
lished during the democratic regime between June 1986 private. The main issues that bring them together are
and 1989 had to go through a security screening in order national issues such as discussing the peace agreement,
to re-register as many were considered affiliates of some constitutional drafts, preparing for donor meetings at
political parties and indeed only a handful could continue Oslo, etc. Many women are actively engaged in the dif-
their work. This period witnessed a relapse of civil society ferent groups. In certain cases women form their own
activism until by 1993 a gradual process of revival had platforms to discuss women’s issues and agendas, for
begun when the government had established the Women instance to engender the constitution, the peace agree-
of Sudan Union in 1991 and founded the international ment and present the women’s minimum agenda at Oslo
Moslem Women Union and the International Women Lea- donor meetings. For the sake of analysis in this paper,
gue with headquarters in Khartoum. These are government the civil society groups that work collectively will be
led and funded organisations. Other government indepen- discussed as one category of feminist action, the acade-
dent groups who were not permitted registration by the mia will be classified as a separate category of feminism

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 Balghis Badri Feminist Perspectives in the Sudan Februar 2006 gender...politik...online

according to the different categories of feminism I dis- studies unit to become the Institute of Women, Gender
cussed above. The third and fourth category are feminist and Development Studies to further promote scholarly
activists on a decision making ministerial level here and knowledge on feminist gender issues. Throughout to-
on an individual or community level there. day it remains the country’s only institute where femi-
nist scholarship is debated and researched. The Ahfad
The groups in the civil society category are diverse in University for Women assists other universities with
their activities. Some engage in development or relief ac- capacity building in feminist research methodology or
tivities including both mostly pro-government/ Islamist concepts either targeted or upon request. Yet, women’s
groups and other independent NGOs, the latter being as- studies or gender issues have been introduced into the
sociated more with International NGOs and UN agencies. curriculum of three other universities, namely at the Su-
Their activities include LGA for women, credits, education dan University they were integrated into the agricultu-
etc. ral courses and their Foresting Master Program with help
of Ahfad University for Women staff. Other milestones
Others work on women’s rights issues in general, address are the UNESCO chair for women studies established in
reproductive health, or campaign for law reforms, parti- the same university as well as a new Women, Child and
cularly concerning the family law. In this sector there Health Centre offering a diploma in women studies. Ho-
are few NGOs and mainly non-profit companies. Some of wever, the state owned university is influenced by what
them also work on violence against women issues, mainly the government conceives women studies to be about,
against FGM, early marriage or domestic violence, others which apparently confines women to reproductive role
work for safe motherhood and girls education, while most positions, leading to a concentration of the courses on
Islamist women’s NGOs concentrate their activities on training on women’s health, home economics and first
teaching the Qur’an and mobilising for holy war before aid!
the peace agreement was signed in January 2005. Many
other civil society actors who do not exclusively consist The Gazira University has integrated gender issues in
of women have desks or units and pursue similar activities their Reproductive Health and Populations Studies Mas-
or target women with their specific programs such as the ter Program.
environmental NGOs, anti-poverty networks, human rights
centres, and HIV/ Aids networks. Other universities are including research on gender
and women’s issues or integrating them into courses
It should be noted that only those who engage in le- upon individual staff members’ initiative and interest.
gal issues or address violence against women practise a The Ismail el-Azhani State University introduced a uni-
discourse that reflects gender relations issues or address versity degree specialisation on women’s studies as part
the structural causes of women’s subordination. While this of the faculty of Urban Studies in 2002. It is struggling
is done modestly and without reference to transnational with what the courses should include and the general
feminist debates or discourses in the academia most are idea is to offer a community development with home
linked to the respective literature and debates. They all economics degree. They recently started to recognise
pose a potential for solidarity work on women’s rights and the complexity of the degree and they will need support
bettering the quality of women’s human development in- to overcome their difficulties before a decision is made
dicators or their involvement in the politics. to cancel the degree altogether. This can barely be con-
sidered feminism of any kind.
The feminists in the academia are only few and the con-
centration of their work is still within the Ahfad Univer- The Khartoum University, the Sudan University and
sity for Women as they have introduced a women’s stu- Ahfad University for Women include many activities like
dy course first and have many other advocacy activities, workshops, conferences on women’s issues, students’
celebrating the women’s international day and allocating extra-curricula activities and doctoral degrees research.
three prizes for the best student graduate researchers on Other research centres which are independent of the
women and gender studies. However, to bring the trans- government engage in research, publications, documen-
national academic feminist discourses seriously into the tations, conferences debating women’s positions, cont-
country they introduced a master’s program on gender and ributions and challenges, and gender training. They are
development in 1997 and by 2000 promoted the women critically discussing the structural causes of women’s

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 Balghis Badri Feminist Perspectives in the Sudan Februar 2006 gender...politik...online

subordination and mainly foster a regional Arabic debate which should be encouraged. These have helped both
on feminism as they train and publish in Arabic. This has the Ahfad University for Women and the Khartoum Uni-
brought new and relevant knowledge to help Sudanese versity and should be extended to others. There have
feminists to debate their concerns. been no attempts to form a network yet, however, basic
networking and taking part in each other’s activities has
On the other hand those research centres that are pro- become frequent.
government or government based do not engage in re-
searching or writing on women’s issues of any type. One As far as feminism on the ministerial level is con-
centre on Women’s and Peace Studies recently established cerned there has also been progress during the period
in 2004 by the government but as a non-government body 1995-2005. The preparation for the Bejing Internatio-
is trying to be involved in scholarly research on feminism, nal Fourth Conference for Women, Bejing + 5 and + 10
but started its own activity with training programs desig- as well as other regional conferences on women have
ned to provide planners with gender analysis frameworks. put pressure on the government to include women’s
It remains a future potential especially if government sections or desks in some ministries. Furthermore UN
positions should change after the peace government is agencies and one Western government also have given
formed. support to help build the capacities of women in the
civil service.
Hence, from the above it is clear that the same pola-
risation again holds true that differentiates engagement Currently, there is a Women, Human Rights and
in women’s issues of government academia or research Peace Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a
bodies from that of the independent non governmental Women’s, Child Affairs Administration at the Ministry of
bodies. In reference to the definition discussed earlier it Social Welfare, a Girls Education Department at the Mi-
is safe to consider academic activities and programs offe- nistry of Education, a Women and Development Section
red by government bodies barely feminist as they do not in the Ministry of Agriculture, a Women’s Focal Point at
contribute to the dissemination of scholarly knowledge the Ministry of Justice, Labour and Industry.
on feminism of any nature nor to the promotion of such
knowledge, methodology or research, while those which All women holding responsible positions in these of-
are independent evidently have more of a feminist agen- fices are subject to training, participate in international
da. Exceptions on individual level that are not institu- meetings and are expected to report to the internatio-
tionalised remain as a potential to change the political nal community on the women’s position in the Sudan
context, help state universities become independent once at different occasions like meetings. They are expec-
more and to integrate much of the feminist scholarship. ted by civil society and the international community
The transdisciplinary crossing boundaries between the to come up with plans of actions and to help develop
academia, civil society members and decision makers is a policy framework for women, which has not yet been
pursued by the Ahfad University for Women, the Sudan finalised.
University and the Khartoum University, however, at the
Sudan University this is limited to the UNESCO women The interlink with the civil society and the academia
chair, at the Khartoum University to the Institute of De- is a great assistance in developing plans, coordinating
velopment and Research Studies and its Women’s and De- reports and executing activities. However, the main
velopment Program established in 1980. problem is that activities are confined within the go-
vernment framework that understands the meaning of
Despite all the restrictions the academic feminist scho- women empowerment only on the economic level and
larship in the Sudan whether in universities or at research does not recognise equality per se, refuses to ratify the
centres has a great potential and could easily be suppor- CEDAW. Of the women in top positions in the civil ser-
ted to play a greater role by institutional support and vice many are islamically politicised and only few are
capacity building. This most recent period has witnessed neutral, thus could only debate certain issues and can
more attempts to include women’s and gender issues in barely join in solidarity with all the women in the non-
the academia in spite of the Islamist political context. state sector. They themselves are not united for they
The impact of the international context was great es- compete for political recognition and promotion. They
pecially some joint programs with Western universities also see themselves as patrons or masters of those in

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 Balghis Badri Feminist Perspectives in the Sudan Februar 2006 gender...politik...online

the civil society while many of the latter just ignore them. come up with a state policy for women, a strategic plan
The issues they have fought for are the establishment of of action, funds for women’s specific concerns or an im-
a women’s council at ministerial level or a ministry solely provement of women’s human development indicators
for women’s issues, a women’s committee in the parlia- or government supported projects or programs yet.
ment, the preservation of women’s rights in labour, ma-
ternity leave extension with full payment for eight weeks Contrary to the women on the ministerial level, wo-
followed by two years with a basic salary. However, they men on individual and community level have shown
do not struggle for more women’s representation in top dynamism, formed many country based organisations
executive positions nor do they publicly criticise male do- to help each other, started their own business, headed
mination as the cause of their discrimination and their households, migrated to towns for work or education in
concentration at the lower scale of employment. large numbers, currently 52% of the students population
in universities are females, migrated outside the Sudan,
In many cases they take the stands of the male patriarch decided to mix with foreigners (an issue that used to be
against activities of the independent NGOs such as in not a taboo for Sudanese women especially from educated
supporting legislation to forbid all forms of FGM or the families). New models of life styles including student or
ratification of the CEDAW. working women living by themselves, marrying in what
has become known as secret marriage without family
However, they join in solidarity with all other women’s consent, living as partners, becoming active in political
groups against the passing of an act delivered by the and civil societies, in the media and engaging in relief
Khartoum state governor forbidding women’s work after activities that demanded travelling to dangerous zo-
five p.m. and their participation in work that has been nes, aid activities that required late returns home. They
classified by the authorities as damaging their reputation, managed to combine family responsibility and activism
which includes work in hotels, at petrol stations, in cafés. or work without extended family support with only the
This was conceived by all women as an infringement of old support of their husbands by negotiating a division of
rights and an opening up to increase the list of what can labour.
be prohibited.
Consequently, a vibrant change, a feminism on the
A women’s solidarity group was established and the case individual level where women negotiate to stretch their
was taken to the constitutional court. Due to all women spaces is taking place in the lives of quite different
despite their internal differences opposing the act it was women who differ by political or ideological affiliation,
withdrawn, the governor replaced. This so far remains the class, ethnic group, age group or marital status.
single joint activity of all women’s activists.
It is the strength of these women that brings femi-
The women in the civil service as mostly politicised ac- nism into reality in the Sudanese urban context as well
tors tend to work with government supported NGOs when as in many rural areas: changes in gender relations and
it comes to writing final reports to agencies or acquiring life styles are forced due to unsettlement and men’s
support from male pro-government consultants. Their fe- absence.
minist project remains limited to forming women’s units
in parallel ministries in the states and participating in the It is the forces of the market economy, education
civil society. Hence, in terms of institutional structures and transmigration together with the little influence of
their impact has been increasing compared to the period transfeminist movements that brought change to the
before 1990, but in terms of societal input their achie- lives of many women in different ways. We have to em-
vement is minimal. They need to acknowledge that they phasise our attention and efforts on these forces as they
have to stand up for women’s concerns and not be the are the key to let the individual women’s forces become
male voice that counters women’s activism. Consequently, collective in order to accelerate change to promote the
with even no service and no promotion of the women’s women’s profile, address the root causes of a structural
profile they have to offer and no changes in the women’s nature to end gender based discrimination, subordinati-
civil service positioning they have achieved, they remain on and violence. Seeing this bright picture of individual
to be the least proactive of feminists or activists, particu- feminism one must wonder whether it can win against
larly as after more than a decade they did not manage to the polarisation of the Sudanese women. This is what

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 Balghis Badri Feminist Perspectives in the Sudan Februar 2006 gender...politik...online

will be discussed in the next section. conceived as originating from the “West” including fe-
minist international claims and scholarships. They will
3.4. The all Sudanese women’s movement polarisation remain anti-feminist even if the government were to
change its position. They engage in debates to support
The above discussion on feminism in the Sudan along a conservative Islam as ideal and teach the Qur’an.
the categorisation of feminism may not capture the true
picture in Sudan where polarisation has started to reach a 1.3.- And thirdly, those who think that there is a
peak between the Islamist and secularist groups. Hence, chance of re-interpretation within the Islam to over-
an analysis of feminism in the Sudan will be undertaken come all inequalities either by a revisiting of the Qur’an
along the categorisation of Islamists and secularists. by feminist theologians or in the course of comparative
The Islamist group could be defined as all those Mus- law studies and interpretations done in other Muslim
lim women who believe that women’s rights, identities countries. The activists of this group do not become
and any quest for liberation can be found within the Is- involved in issues of re-interpretation themselves and
lam, while secularists hold the position that the struggle only few are engaged in discussions about what other
should be addressed through secular principles and who Islamic groups are disclosing and re-interpreting. This
wish to include women of different religions and ethnic third group of Islamist feminists is mainly non-pro- or
backgrounds. outright anti-government.

The women secularists belong to a mixture of upper and However, they are not a coherent group either and
middle class, the same applies to the Islamists. Hence, differ amongst themselves. They share the standpoint
the class discussion conceived as a characteristic of Egyp- that there is no need to refer to discourses outside the
tian feminism does not completely explain the diversity Islam. They have not contributed themselves to theolo-
of the Sudanese women along class typologies. However, gy debates, except for a few who refer to male Muslim
the rural and poor women are mostly out of touch with scholars and their theological standpoints and in a few
the debate. Their lack of basic services obliged all groups cases even referring to reinterpretations of the Qur’an.
to address the basic needs and only minimal awareness
raising programs were started aimed at them by some se- Some of them consider the opportunity to achieve
cularists. gender equality by referring to the Republican leader
Mahmoud Taha’s teachings. Taha points out that the
1. The Islamists: The Islamists do not form a homoge- Islam as stated in the Qur’an has two main messages,
neous group, but can be sub classified as: of which only one is binding to all Muslims at all times
1.1.- Those who do not believe that discussing gender concerning the human relation to God. The other mes-
discrimination issues especially as used to be explicit in sage is binding to the people during the time of the
the Family Law is crucial and emphasise other issues for prophet only and mainly relates to punishment during
equality and empowerment basically in the public arena. life and behaviour, codes of conduct that where speci-
Hence, they do not consider the private political and fail fied in Qur’anic verses revealed to the prophet during
to spot it as the root cause of women’s disempowerment his time in Medina (622-630). This interpretation makes
and subordination. They are mostly pro-government and it easy for women to claim full equality in the Islam by
do not indulge in any project that would counter the male referring to the first message. Any verses that indicate
dominated Islamic discourse of the pro government con- what some feminist consider discriminatory are “Medina
servative theologians. They remain active on women’s Verses” and hence not binding so that Muslims can for-
rights or issues that do not cross with Islamic doctrines, mulate any new laws as they are relevant to their new
thus debating issues such as education, health and po- sociocultural and political contexts. Therefore Muslims
verty. can formulate laws based on the equality principles of
the Islam stated in the first message and overcome the
1.2.- Those who are apologetic to inequalities in Islam, details of the second message for the context has chan-
accept them and consider them divine, believe a wisdom ged.
to be behind them, even if we as human beings could not
perceive its value. Most of them belong to the conserva- To these women this approach provides the easier road
tive Islamists and their struggle is to oppose anything compared to a reinterpretation of each single verse.

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 Balghis Badri Feminist Perspectives in the Sudan Februar 2006 gender...politik...online

However, not many feminist scholars are aware of Taha’s Consequently they try to make choices and develop
writings supporting the Sudanese women. Mahmoud Taha strategies for negotiating their claims. They include
himself was executed for heresy, which has made it diffi- different categories of women whose religion is Islam
cult for many Sudanese feminists to use his arguments to or Christianity or indigenous. They include women from
achieve change in ideology, laws or practice. different parts of the Sudan, the North, East, West,
South and from the Diaspora. These women also belong
It should be noted that at the time when Sudanese to different age groups like those of the first women’s
Muslim feminists who were not pro-government started movement generation including young women and stu-
to question the need for reinterpretation of the Islam dents. Also they are affiliated with NGOs, the academia,
the Sudan was under an Islamic state, hence, they re- political parties and other nongovernmental actors and
acted against a state that attempted to usurp some of with a few women inside the government. They could be
their rights in the law and constitution in the name of classified in two groups, the North based feminist se-
the Islam. Also, they were influenced by the international cularists and the South based feminist secularists. The
women’s rights agenda and took the relatively progressive northern group includes a majority of Muslim women,
discourses of the male Islamist scholars, mainly Turabi, while the southern majority belongs to Christianity.
the Islamic Muslim Brothers leader, Sadiq el Mahadi, the
Umma Party leader, Mahmoud Taha, the Islamic Republi- 2.1. The North based secularist feminists:
can leader, into account. They could not see how a con- The groups of this category work to preserve political
servative project for women would prevail in the Sudan. and labour rights against potential regression. Moreo-
In addition, the international context is conducive to the ver, with males they lead the debate to implement a
support of secularist projects. non-religious source of all legislation. It is worth men-
tioning that the first Sudanese constitution of 1956 did
2. The Secularists: not refer to sources of legislation and hence remained
To the secularists it seems easier to change a secular silent about religion, which resulted in laws not being
law and depoliticise the Islam considering it a religion for based on the Sharia. This heritage serves as a precedent
worshiping God and to consider all social or moral issues for the current debates and laws.
individual choices of adherence to be judged by God in
the after life. Most activists of this category also campaign for
women’s rights, legal reform, against violence against
The secularists themselves do not make a coherent group women, FGM, for girls’ education, peace building strate-
yet. The secularist feminists include Muslims and Christi- gies and awareness raising at grass root levels, engage
ans. What unites them is that their discourse is not based in advocacy, lobbying and networking with the Inter-
on religion as a source of legislation or on a particular national community. There are more capacity building
religion, Islam for instance, but rather focuses on the cau- efforts on the medium level and just a few on the grass
ses of the patriarchy all women regardless of their religion roots level.
are subordinated to. This unites them in their struggle
and could be based on commonalities of plight. In this 2.2. The South based secularist feminists:
group issues of belief are only discussed where used by The emerging southern feminism (1990-2005) of the
men as source to legitimise their domination, while the Sudanese People Liberation Movement (SPLM) and other
struggle itself is not over religion. southern or Nubian groups have a different agenda,
being mostly non-Muslim. However, they also strive for
What further unites them is that they foresee the achie- emancipation from an African tradition towards a secu-
vement of women’s emancipation and liberation in re- lar law along international principles of human rights
ference to international agendas represented in the UN and women’s conferences plans of action. Their debate
conventions, international conferences recommendations, is less complicated, yet the struggle to overcome a patri-
and plans of actions. They believe that those conventions archal traditional system is not easy. Recently they have
and recommendations are based on a universal heritage worked united with the men against the Northerners’
from all civilisations and on the contributions of feminists domination. Yet, they also put forward their women’s
worldwide and do not conceive them as “Western” or “ali- agenda for public and political representation through a
en” or irrelevant debates. “quota” system. They are organising to address women’s

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 Balghis Badri Feminist Perspectives in the Sudan Februar 2006 gender...politik...online

needs during rehabilitation and peace building. However, different definitions of feminism. Hence, all women’s
they may miss the chance to bring their feminist agenda groups and movements, even single actions are conside-
to defy patriarchy as another form of domination in a ge- red having a degree of feminism. Feminism to me stret-
neral revolution against domination. To achieve this they ches over a continuum that starts from the minimum
need to consider solidarity with the secularist feminists in of at least addressing women’s basic needs or rights to
the North. Officially, within the new government after the the maximum of addressing the structural root causes
peace agreement, their allies in the government are the of subordination and violence. The horizon for femi-
Islamists. If it is the Islamist feminist, which side they nism is wide, elastic and changing with time and place.
will take and how they play the game remains to be seen Hence, it is my belief that we need to keep it broad and
in the future as the CPA has been signed only recently. The inclusive in a way as I have tried to present feminisms
whole future of the movement is at a critical juncture. in the Sudan in this paper. Recognizing the diversity of
the Sudanese nation and of the Sudanese women’s iden-
The part of the Sudanese feminist movement upholding tities and their historicity one needs to reach a broad
secular discourses has yet to fight a struggle with Islamic understanding of feminism in order to encompass the
theologians, both males and females, with the bureaucrats, diversity. Exclusionist agendas, frameworks and theori-
judiciary, other political leaders and society at large. They sing can not be part of my standpoint. It is necessary
have to unite the Northerners with the Southerners for to understand feminism in the Sudan by using a metho-
their future struggle. Both strategic planning and visio- dology that reaches the scene as it unfolds using dif-
nary leaders are needed for the new phase of the struggle ferent ways of analysis that can lead to classifications
to advocate and apply gender equality and end patriarchy helpful for further analysis. These classifications do not
for the Sudan. There are many issues beneficiary to their reflect closed boundaries but rather resemble the actu-
unity in the context of legal debates and religion, such as al context feminists work in as much as possible. The
working on literacy, the reduction of maternal mortality classifications or the polarisation that is indicated need
and poverty alleviation. Yet, debating patriarchy in both yet to be critically analysed and should be the basis to
the private and the public spheres is crucial to give women debating issues of hierarchy and power. It needs to be
more space to address their diverse plights. The issue of deliberated which group has power and domination over
persistent illiteracy and maternal mortality as well as fe- the political and social scene that influence women’s
minised poverty are gender issues and without addressing positioning. The question of what is the basis for each
the structural causes of women’s subordination they can category to gain power and legitimacy needs to be
not be effectively reduced. Hence, the secularist feminists further researched. The issue of identity politics needs
have to lead the struggle to address these issues publicly a framework of analysis encompassed within a broader
and to break the silence by disclosing patriarchy. debate and definition of difference that besides exclusi-
ve feminism issues includes racism, ethnicity, and class.
4. Conclusion The latter are not yet debated within the Sudanese con-
text to discuss the interrelation between the three con-
Reviewing the feminist scene in the Sudan from a histo- cepts and feminism. The current polarisation based on
rical evolutionary perspective leading to their classificati- ideology or religion can get materialised in the future
on into time periods a solidarity movement prevailed from on other bases of identity politics mainly around not
just before independence to the early seventies. A lack of only gender but ethnic and class hierarchies and power
movement internal solidarity and increasing polarisation relations. The question that remains to be highlighted
is characteristical in the following period up to this date. is whether feminism can transcend them or even more
The polarisation can be located between the standpoints important whether we need them to be transcended.
of “Islamism” and “secularism” or on the basis of regi- The debate on cultural relativism can make us agree
onalism between the North and the South. Others may that different forms of feminism are all legitimate. How
classify the polarisation on a generational gap or along many will agree to debates of cultural relativism still
what strategies and/or programs are used. Moreover, an needs further research.
understanding of what feminism is all about and how it is
defined could also be the basis of classifications. Future research is needed on how Sudanese feminist
I have attempted to use different ways of classifications groups of the different categories conceptualise and
based on a comprehensive understanding as well as on translate feminism. This paper could be considered a

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 Balghis Badri Feminist Perspectives in the Sudan Februar 2006 gender...politik...online

descriptive contribution among others undertaken in this

direction. The context still needs further debate and re-
search both on the conceptual level of the meaning of
difference, identity, and feminism, as well as on the ex-
periential and relational levels of agency, oppression, po-
wer, and social positioning.

5. References

Abdel Aziz Ahmed Ali; Nuha (2003). Sudanese

children consideration of peace.(Research Notes) In:
Ahfad Journal, July, 2003

Badri, Balghis (2003). Women’s vision for a New

Sudan. Unpublished.

Badri, Haga Kashif. Women’s movement in the Su-

dan. New Delhi: Asia News Agency, 1986.

Central Bureau of Statistic (2003) UNFPA Populati-

on Date Sheet, Khartoum.

Central Bureau of Statistic (2005) Joint Assessment

Mission Report. UNFPA Population Date Sheet, Khar-
toum

Civil Society Forum Report, 2005

Joint Assesment Mission Draft Report (2005): Nati-

onal Election Authority (2000), Khartoum.

SMS (1999) FMoH, CBS, UNFPA Safe Motherhood

Survey

United Nations (2005): Millennium Development

Goals Report. New York

6. Endnotes

1 However, few Sufist sectors and tribal groups

have been reached by civil society between 2000 and
2005. To obtain their support for political purposes,
the government is now trying to organise the Sufists
into a council.

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