Kandaka is the title used for queens in the ancient kingdom of Kush. However, Kandaka the word means “strong woman”. And where can you find stronger women than in Sudan؟
For over six months now (really for many years), Sudanese people inside and outside the country have been protesting for the fall of Omar Al-Bashir’s autocratic Keizan-regime. Originally misrepresented by the (infuriatingly small) media coverage, the uprisings were framed as a mere response to increasing bread and fuel prices. They are so much more than that: the Sudanese people are struggling against a regime that has no respect for the humanity of the peoples it supposedly represents.
They are fighting for freedom of speech, freedom of cultural expression, and basic human rights. They are protesting against skyrocketing inflation, an ongoing economic crisis, an epidemic of unemployment and corruption, the selling off of fertile lands to anyone who pays, governmental neglect and violent government militias waging civil wars in different corners of the country. Not least, they are fighting to end this embarrassment of a leadership that isolates and stigmatises us internationally as a country and as a people.
Reports have confirmed that amongst the protesters, at times more than 70% are female. ‘Naturally’, women hold a bigger stake in the struggles. By virtue of being born into a female body, women are disproportionally affected by oppressive regimes and systems. They suffer more from supposed Sharia laws and they are in the most dangerous and vulnerable positions when participating in protests. Nonetheless, Sudanese women are bravely demonstrating against all the aforementioned, plus gender discrimination and gender-based violence perpetuated by both the regime as well as ‘by their own men’.
Sudan’s Public Order Laws have been used since the 1980s to control and intimidate women by way of punishing them for “indecent acts” in public, such as wearing “obscene outfits” or “causing an annoyance to public feelings”. In 2014, I was stopped and harassed by Sudanese police men in Khartoum for not wearing a headscarf whilst sitting next to my cousin in a car. Not having a Sudanese passport is what let me get away. On other days, I would walk around in a t-shirt and talk to police men without any consequences. This vague legislation creates an uncertain atmosphere in which women can never know when they might be accused and/or arrested. They are at the mercy of an officer’s mood who may misuse the ‘law’ however he likes. According to the No To Women Oppression group, between 40,000 and 50,000 women are arrested and flogged every year by public order police because of their clothing.
For further information on the Public Order Laws, here is a publication on the criminalisation of women in Sudan by the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) and The Redress Trust.
الرسائل والمقالات و الآراء المنشورة في المنتدى بأسماء أصحابها أو بأسماء مستعارة لا تمثل بالضرورة الرأي الرسمي لصاحب الموقع أو سودانيز اون لاين بل تمثل وجهة نظر كاتبها
لا يمكنك نقل أو اقتباس اى مواد أعلامية من هذا الموقع الا بعد الحصول على اذن من الادارة
Kostawi
فيس بوك
تويتر
انستقرام
يوتيوب
بنتيريست