A broad consensus prevails among the Sudanese women and the elites, and everyone who was monitoring the movement of the revolution that toppled the rule of President Omar al-Bashir in April 2019, that the Sudanese did not reap any fruits equivalent to the huge sacrifices it made over a period of 5 months during which thousands of women and young women led the long street protests and sadness accordingly. That is why they have had an ample share of arrest and pursuit, and they have not been spared from beatings, abuse and harassment.

While Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok was speaking in the state of South Kordofan on Thursday afternoon, acknowledging that the representation of women in power is still below ambition, then he indicated that the front lines in the Peace, Security and Development Conference that received its recommendations were monopolized by men. Hundreds of women are taking to the streets of Khartoum, demanding law reform, and denouncing calls to be beaten in the streets because of the inappropriate dress in the eyes of some.

Claims to activate the text of the repealed law

The calls that prevailed on social media over the past week incited to flog everyone who does not wear modest clothes, which is what was done under the guise of the public order law that was canceled after the revolution, and these calls reinforced the demands of the Khartoum State Police Director to activate the text of the repealed law, which stirred his face. A mounting wave of anger resulted in the removal of the police official from his post.

To express the extent of discontent with the way the transitional government deals with women's issues and continues to put it in a waiting state, feminist groups called for their voices to be heard to the highest legal authorities, and April 8 was the date for submitting a memorandum to the judicial authorities, including a set of demands. Ironically, the women's procession was during its long road From the Ministry of Justice to the Public Prosecution Office, in which many of the participants were subjected to harassment, and they did not hesitate to resort to the law and write communications against the perpetrators.

The feminist statement

In their memorandum entitled (The Feminist Manifesto), the women demand the necessity of the participation of women in all levels of government at least equitably, and the amendment of the election law to allow women to run on behalf of their communities and not only within the feminist lists, while ensuring the active participation of women in peace talks, and the preparation of security arrangements and transitional justice mechanisms. And societal reconciliation.

They called for removing all obstacles that limit effective political participation for women, including ensuring equality within the family and abolishing all discriminatory laws and policies, including the personal status law, the criminal law, the labor law, and enacting legislations and policies that criminalize gender-based discrimination. They also called for women's equality. Before the courts and full recognition of testimony in criminal cases.

And they demanded that they be granted the right to obtain identification papers for their children, especially granting mothers the right to give their name to their children in the event of an unknown father or failure to prove lineage, and the right to divorce and to ensure that women obtain part of the wealth obtained during marriage even in the case of separation, in recognition of their economic contribution in caring tasks. And women's equality in inheritance, in addition to many other demands.

On the anniversary of the revolution, women demanded the removal of obstacles that limit their active political participation (Al-Jazeera)

Qualitative equality

They also called for the adoption of the reference for international covenants and treaties related to gender equality in all legal and political amendments and reforms, while ensuring the safety and security of women and girls in the public and private sphere, by forming prosecution offices and courts specialized in dealing with gender-based violence.

Among the demands also include reforming the law enforcement and judiciary system to ensure the rule of law and building justice institutions that meet aspirations for justice and respect rights, freedoms, and cultural, religious, gender and ethnic diversity.

Exclusion of women

Aisha Al-Samani, a journalist defending women's issues, confirms to Al-Jazeera Net that women have not reaped even 1% of the amount of sacrifice they made for 30 years in the face of the continuous abuse campaigns that were practiced by the leaders of the isolated regime.

She points out that despite the government's pledges to include women in decision-making, this did not happen due to the control of "male thought", and that the "hard-line Salafi" religious discourse also continues to control women's freedom.

Aisha believes that the leaders of the transitional government lack the political will to support women's issues and sign the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which protects women from intense violence that continues to affect them.

She rejects the common talk about the lack of qualified female cadres to engage in public or executive political work, and points out that political parties play a role by excluding women from the scene due to the rule of the "male mentality" within them.

Previously, Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok returned a list of candidates for ministerial seats to the ruling coalition (the Forces of Freedom and Change) due to the insufficient representation of women, but the coalition forces did not commit to presenting female candidates to assume the ministries, as a senior government official told Al-Jazeera Net, in addition to the fact that Sudanese society does not He is still dominated by a militant mentality regarding the mandate of women for public affairs, as tribal entities see that installing a woman as a ruler is undermining the status of men, which is what the Hamdok government faced when it decided to choose a woman for the position of governor in the Nile River in the north of the country.

Aisha Al-Samani: The political will is lacking among government leaders to support women's causes (Al-Jazeera)

Compete card

Hala Al-Karib, regional director of the Network for the Strategic Initiative for Horn of Africa Women (Saiha), describes the conditions of post-revolution women as very sad.

She added to Al-Jazeera Net, "Unfortunately, the participation of women and their support for change has not received any appreciation from the group of elites that took power in Sudan, and despite the claims of the transitional government in international and other forums that it is about to make fundamental changes about the conditions of women and girls in Sudan, it ignored their conditions internally."

Al-Karib believes that women's rights are being used as a card for political competition between the forces of change and the remnants of the previous regime, which, as she says, has led to the continuing violations that were occurring and the continued degradation and marginalization of poor women who constitute the majority, and the government also turns a blind eye to the hate speech that it promotes. The dark people "in the streets.

According to the regional official, the government gives these forces the green light to violate and violate the rights of women without taking a static move, and therefore it bears responsibility for the weakness of laws and policies, the slowdown in taking effective steps in providing a safe environment for women and girls and the appreciation of the fact that their conditions deserve attention because their rights have been systematically violated throughout the Covenant. The former, especially in conflict and war zones.

Al-Karib strongly criticizes the transitional government's neglect of the status of women in Darfur after rape has become a regular occurrence similar to the era of Al-Bashir, who was convicted by the Criminal Court for a package of violations, including rape by virtue of his presence at the head of the state, and then added, "What makes us not condemn the current transitional government for the same crime because they are?" Also sitting at the top of power without doing anything to stop the organized crime and violence women face. "

Sudanese women hold political forces responsible for failing to represent them as agreed upon in written documents (Al-Jazeera)

Responsibility of the parties

The leader of the Sudanese Congress Party, Hanadi al-Siddiq, holds the political forces responsible for failing to represent women to the extent agreed upon in written documents, as the participation rate in governance structures is supposed to reach 40%, which is the reality in all the formations of the transitional government that followed the revolution.

In an interview with Al-Jazeera Net, she points out that many parties have not been interested in qualifying the feminist cadre and raising them to a leadership level while the political awareness is absent from others who join the ranks of the parties, which is reflected in the general performance when a feminist person assumes an executive seat without being competent, citing representation. The feminist was in the first government formation after the revolution, when the faces who held positions performed shyly "without ambition."

On the other hand, Al-Siddiq affirms that many parties influence the sacrifice of a woman’s competence to promote a man in her place, or a deliberate exclusion process often occurs because of this short view that gave birth to female bodies trying to emancipate from the party entity, which in her opinion reflects a dangerous indicator that should be remedied by granting women their status within Party entities.