Draft:Women's condition in Sudan

The status of women in Sudan varies from one area to another, and is particularly influenced by the war.

Politics
Sudanese women obtained the right to vote in 1953 and they can participate in political life. The Sudanese constitution reserves a quota of 25% of seats in the National Assembly for women. .

Work
The majority of Sudanese women have a professional activity.

Polygamy is permitted in Sudan. A man can have up to four wives, unless the woman he married first notifies the exclusion of polygamy in the marriage contract. Within a couple, the husband holds all rights; the wife has no legal existence and is not taxed on her personal assets.

Education
The first class of students to complete studies at the university dates from 1930. In 2017, women are the majority in universities (52% compared to 48% for men). Although the desire to educate oneself is a primary motivation, the need for additional income in an economic context where the income of the head of the family is no longer sufficient pushes women to go to university in order to find a job afterwards.

Violence
Genital mutilation affects 87.6% of women aged 15 to 49 in Sudan, one of the highest rates in the world.

Excision is commonly practiced in Sudan by Muslim communities, but not by Christian communities. “Pharaonic" excision, which consists, in addition to “traditional" excision, to almost entirely suture the vulva, is prohibited by Sudanese law, but still practiced in several regions of the country.

In 2020, Sudan criminalized female genital mutilation (FGM). Anyone who practices FGM, whether in a medical facility or elsewhere, is liable to three years' imprisonment and a fine.

Women and girls are commonly victims of sexual violence as a result of war, ,. The United Nations Population Fund deplores rapes, kidnappings, forced marriages and child marriages.

Clothes
Article 152 of the Sudanese Penal Code of 1991 penalizes the wearing of “ indecent or immoral clothing ". Under this law, on July 3, 2009, 13 women were arrested in Khartoum for wearing pants. Ten of them pleaded guilty and were punished with 10 lashes and a fine of 250 Sudanese pounds. Of these 13 women, three were under 18 years old.

On November 26, 2019, the government abolished the law on public order and morals which prohibited, among other things, women from wearing pants,. But these new social gains are being called into question by the new government after the 2021 coup d'état