Sudan

This Position Paper is published by REDRESS and KCHRED as part of the Criminal Law Reform Project in Sudan. It has been prepared in response to a number of well documented challenges in respect of how allegations of rape and other forms of sexual violence are handled in Sudan. These challenges include the absence of appropriate and effective mechanisms to protect victims and witnesses in rape and sexual violence cases and the failure of the competent authorities to carry out effective investigations and prosecutions into allegations of such crimes.

This report focuses on the linkage between gender and violence against girls in Sudan. Attention is given to the manner in which gender and age shape the form of violence, the circumstances in which this violence occurs and its consequences. The report places particular emphasis on domestic violence, early marriages, female genital mutilation, slavery, forced labour and trafficking of girls, violence by the state and violence against girls in the context of the armed conflict.

On 29 May, proceedings brought by the prosecutor of the Press and Publications Court against Professor Omar el Gerai, a journalist and activist, and Abdallah Sheikh, the editor ofAjras Alhurria, began in Al Shemali Court in Khartoum North. The two journalists are being tried for an article published 6 March by Professor el Gerai in Ajras Alhurria entitled “Rape…under Sharia law”, (available here in Arabic). The article detailed the brutal treatment of the youth activist and Girifna member Safiya Ishag, who was raped multiple times and subjected to torture in National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) custody following her participation in the 30 January demonstrations in Khartoum. In his piece, Mr. el Gerai called for a formal investigation.

This book is a report on the prevalence of female circumcision and female genital mutilation (FC/FGM) and on the use of law and policy to address these practices. This work places FC/FGM firmly within a human rights and legal framework, although it does recognise and address the challenges inherent to this discourse. The authors look at the history of FC/FGM; its consequences for women’s health; the reasons used to justify it – i.e. culture, control over women’s sexuality, tradition, interpretation of religious directives; and the history of movement’s working to combat it.