On 22 April 2020, the Sudanese government passed an amendment to its own criminal legislation to ban the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM).
The amendment to Criminal Law Article 141 prescribes that a person who commits the crime of FGM, whether inside a hospital, health centre, dispensary, clinic, or elsewhere, will be punished with 3 years’ imprisonment and a fine.
The decision taken by the transitional government suggests a move towards greater protection of women’s rights within the country.
FGM is a dangerous practice which has been broadly defined by the World Health Organization to include “all procedures involving the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to female genital organs for non-medical reasons.”
The United Nations (UN) has estimated that 9 in 10 Sudanese women have undergone a form of FGM. Those subjected to the practice are at risk of serious health complications arising, such as severe pain, infection, bleeding, problems with reproductive health or even fatalities.
Previous efforts have been made by Sudanese states to curb FGM prior to the recent amendment. As a federalist country, Sudan is constituted by eighteen states grouped into five main provinces. A number of states had already initiated the development of laws to regulate FGM within their borders, including South Darfur, South Kordofan and Red Sea. However, under the al-Bashir government, there was little success in implementing a country-wide ban of FGM.
Despite the criminalisation of FGM in some Sudanese states prior to the recent amendment, Sudan remains one of the highest affected countries globally. According to 28 Too Many, a charity dedicated to ending FGM across Africa, the pervasiveness of the procedure in women aged 15-49 in Sudan is 86.6%. Given that the practice is so culturally embedded in Sudanese communities, experts warn that legal protections may not suffice to bring an end to FGM.
Faiza Mohamed of Equality Now notes that “having a law against FGM acts as an important deterrent, however, Sudan may face challenges in enforcing legislation. People who still believe in the practice might not report cases or act to stop FGM when they know it is happening."
There is however some evidence of a cultural resistance forming, with data gathered by 28 Too Many, in collaboration with Thomson Reuters, illustrating that 52.8% of women aged between 15-49 (who are aware of the practice) believe it should be eradicated.
The announcement of new criminal regulations has been welcomed by women’s rights campaigners and held as a significant victory in the fight against the widely condemned practice of FGM. The news came to a head at a time of political progress within the Sudanese women’s rights movement, in light of their role in driving out the al-Bashir government.
The new transitional government have not only made commitments towards eradicating FGM, but also repealed its public order act which placed significant restrictions on women’s social, economic and political freedoms.
Campaigners hope that such legislative efforts to uproot socially embedded and abusive practices are emblematic of a new chapter geared towards improving equality and ensuring safe environments for women in Sudan, as well as setting an example for other countries continuing to grapple with FGM and other discriminatory practices.
With the international community recognising a shared goal to abolish FGM by 2030, Sudan’s recent progress is certainly a meaningful step towards its realisation.
Christie graduated with an LLM in International Law and Security from the University of Glasgow. She focused on areas such as nuclear weapons, cyber security, counter-terrorism, and the international courts system. Most recently, she interned at the International Bar Association undertaking legal research and policy work.