Sudanese women played a central role in the December 2018 revolution and the toppling of the regime of Omar al-Bashir in the name of freedom and societal justice. Though women showed their ability to lead and presented a model for creating a new status quo of equality, dignity and making discrimination a thing of the past, the transitional period devolved into a fierce and bloody armed conflict in which the ugliest kinds of crimes and violations were committed. Now, women are faced with a new and harsher chapter as the conflict continues. Women’s experiences of this conflict have yet to be properly revealed and explored, but it is clear they must play a role in rebuilding the nation when the conflict ends.

The armed conflict that broke out in Sudan on April 15, 2023, between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) was not as much of a surprise as many supposed it to be. The perilous face-off between the two factions was expected. The origins of the current conflict can be traced to “the Islamization of laws” in September 1983, which paved the way for the empowerment of groups inextricably linked to the circles of political Islam. These laws laid the foundations for the current civilizational project in Sudan and the extremism, terrorism and suppression of women’s rights which has resulted from it.

A long history of discrimination

Women in Sudan still face deep-rooted discrimination within their communities. In terms of legal rights, even though the principles of non-discrimination have been

enshrined in successive Sudanese constitutions since the country’s independence, they are not respected in practice. Domestic lawmaking sweeps aside women’s rights under the banner of religious values, traditions and customs. Gender barriers cause a disjuncture between women and the law.

Violence against women is still widespread across Sudan – in fact, the state itself played a leading role in exacerbating this violence by enacting discriminatory laws and weaponizing rape by the military in Darfur. Armed conflicts have been a fact of life in Sudan, with disastrous consequences for women. Even when peace agreements have been made, successive governments have failed to protect women. Likewise, there has been a lack of political will to put perpetrators of violent crimes against women on trial. 

Throughout its history, Sudan has never had effective programs or plans to improve gender equality or empower women. There has been no effective institution for promoting women’s rights. Barriers impeding women’s political participation remain, with women facing difficulties when working in predominantly male political parties, most of which do not have policies to promote women. However, the revolution played a role in increasing people’s, especially young women’s, awareness of their rights and provided them with platforms and more freedom to organize themselves. 

Women bear the brunt of war’s destruction

Women had no time to prepare themselves for its challenges, particularly since most were excluded from the seats of power. Any semblance of a functioning state disappeared on the first day of the conflict and there was a disintegration of the social norms that played an important role in protecting women.  Women have suffered the loss of children, spouses, siblings, and other family members, and had to live with violence, death, and the pain caused by not knowing the fate of loved ones.

Women in Darfur, especially in West Darfur, have experienced their own unique form of suffering: the conflict re-ignited ethnic tensions and sectarianism. Women have lost their homes or seen them looted and insecurity has made daily essentials unavailable in some areas. With water, electricity and gas cuts women and their families are living in spartan conditions.

Due to the closure of hospitals, the targeting of medical personnel and the lack of medical aid and medicines, women, particularly the elderly, those suffering from chronic illnesses, and those who are pregnant or nursing, have faced severe threats to their health. While traveling, women have risked death from air strikes or artillery fire, and been subjected to looting, harassment, sexual exploitation, and verbal abuse at military checkpoints.

Conversely, the process of relocating and seeking asylum has led to some restrictions on the freedom of movement and travel for women and girls being lifted, as many families have been forced to allow women and girls to flee without being escorted by male relatives. Mothers have been allowed to relocate and seek asylum with their children without their husbands, in a clear break from legal and traditional restrictions. This has increased women’s confidence in their ability to act without male supervision.

In addition, female refugees are affected by changing gender roles. Many men lose their accustomed roles as breadwinners and protectors, increasing the burdens on women.

The loss of material and social capital and poor living conditions create feelings of distress and insecurity. Women also face numerous legal challenges, as some countries limit basic rights to work and freedom of movement for refugees. When they enter countries illegally, women are vulnerable to harassment and sexual violence by authorities and human trafficking.

Sexual violence exacerbated during conflict

The ongoing conflict has had wide-ranging consequences for the education of girls. Many schools and universities have been turned into military barracks or reception centers leaving large numbers of pupils, among them girls, unable to study. As the war continues, there is a growing risk that girls forced from school will not be able to return. Many families prioritize educating their boys due to traditional thinking. 

Sexual and gender-based violence has been used against women throughout the conflict as part of a toolkit to terrorize and humiliate civilians to control and intimidate men and communities. Reports published by the UN and other international organizations have listed counts of rape, sexual aggression, sexual exploitation and physical violence during attacks on women in their homes, with victims as young as 12. Women have also faced sexual harassment and rape in the areas to which they have been displaced.

Up against these hardships, civilian women’s groups, both official and unofficial, have played a huge role in helping civilians, particularly in hosting areas. This includes organizing voluntary initiatives and collecting donations, frontline care work, responding to female victims of violence, and tasks normally performed by men such as working to make ends meet and volunteering in medical and service centers. The war has proven that women are vital actors in humanitarian response, particularly in meeting the needs of women and girls.

Throughout the conflict, sexual violence has also been linked to the growing incidence of ethnic persecution of women and girls, particularly in Darfur. Some reports have indicated that forms of sexual violence such as sexual slavery and human trafficking are becoming more common. Human rights defenders, journalists and activists have not been spared, being subjected to, or threatened with rape to intimidate them and prevent them from going about their work.

The exacerbation and intensification of sexual violence can also be attributed to deep-rooted culture of impunity. Those who have committed violent crimes are confident they will not be put on trial or held accountable, just as they escaped punishment before for the crimes and rapes which they committed in Darfur more than twenty years ago, and in the Khartoum massacre of June 3, 2019, and also because they are fully aware that there are no laws which protect the rights of individuals, and that power in the country belongs to those that hold arms.

The perpetration of sexual violence on a grand scale during the conflict cannot be separated from prevailing attitudes that tolerate patriarchal violence and condone violence against women, where women’s bodies are considered to be a space that patriarchal society is free to control. This includes Female Genital Mutilation, child marriage, forced marriage and some other traditional practices. Nor can sexual violence be separated contextually from inherited laws which codify this tolerance of violence.  

Women must play a role in ending the conflict 

Ending the conflict in Sudan will be a difficult and arduous task fraught with challenges linked to the complex nature of the conflict itself and its political, regional, ethnic, and ideological roots. Despite constant calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities from Sudanese citizens, particularly women, experiencing the conflict’s worst effects, to this day there have been no tangible results to show for these efforts allowing the conflict to wreak continuing devastation. At the same time, there are continued attempts to obstruct any unified people’s mass movement to end the conflict, and a complete lack of any information about the program of work of the limited anti-conflict initiatives currently operating. It has been suggested that these programs are dominated by the conflict’s factions while brushing over the views of civilians and direct victims of the conflict – particularly women. Proposed solutions are limited to securitized approaches that lack transparency or the inclusion of accountability for the grave crimes and violations of human rights committed.

Sudanese women are well aware that their involvement in negotiations to end the conflict means involvement in pivotal conversations about breaking up the old patriarchal and militarized structures.

For real, effective female participation, it is essential that political and civilian leaders believe in the importance of this and prepare to make space for, and prioritize, women.

Women’s efforts to participate must be built on a deep awareness that this task, particularly in light of the conflict’s escalation, is a long one that must address the issues of exclusion, discrimination, oppression, inequality, and structural violence, including against women.

The work of women in ending the conflict can also be considered a step-change for female participation in public work and political processes, since this participation has taken the form of broad collective action and was not just symbolic or limited to a small number of women; nor was it exclusively done by women of any particular class, political, geographical or racial affiliation.

The conflict has taken its toll on women of all different backgrounds; consequently, the task of ending must also be diverse. It represents a new period of political emancipation for women and may bring the country nearer to diverse political and public participation. A clear and defined feminist vision must be developed, as well as a program and agenda regarding the new reality and challenges that will come after the conflict is over, and the participation of women in fixing the political malpractices that led to the outbreak of the ongoing conflict and other conflicts besides.

Zeinab Abbas Badawi is a human rights and gender expert. This is an abridged version of a report published in the Sudan Transparency and Policy Tracker.