UPR Sexual Rights Database

National Report:
Para 12) [The Elections Act] was amended in 2014 to increase the proportion of women from 25 per cent to 30 per cent and to improve geographical and proportional representation in order to widen participation.

Para 33) The findings of a workforce survey to determine levels of employment and participation in economic life among men and women made public in April 2012. Among its more significant results, the survey showed that economic participation among both sexes increased from 39.3 per cent in 1999 to 43 per cent in 2011. The number of people reliant on paid work jumped to 40.1 per cent, standing at 43.6 per cent for men and 29.4 per cent for women.

Para 69) The National Quarter-Century Strategy for 2007-2031 advocates the participation of women in a wholesale revival of society. One of the central elements of the Strategy is, in fact, the empowerment of women.

Para 70) The State's concern in this regard has led it to create various frameworks as well as seven official national mechanisms to empower women and promote their role in society.

Para 71) The national policy for the empowerment of women - which was adopted by the Council of Ministers in 2007 and has been used as a reference for the Constitution, national laws and regional and international treaties - has been updated for the period 2015-2016, with the help of development partners. Projects included in the policy aim to address issues such as education, health care, the environment, economic empowerment, human rights law, political participation and decision-making, and peace and conflict resolution. A detailed outline of a national policy to empower women has been proposed, incorporated into the second five-year plan (2012-2016) and sent out to districts and provinces.

Para 72) The participation of women in the national legislature in 2015 was as follows. There were 131 female members of the National Assembly which has a total number of seats of 450, and there were 16 female members, out of a total of 56, of the Council of States.

Para 73) Following the 2014 amendments to electoral law, the people of Sudan helped to reinforce the foundations of democracy by participating in the April 2015 elections and the peaceful transfer of power. The proportion of women in parliament went up from 25 to 30 per cent ...

UN Compilation:
Para 5) ... In 2015, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, was concerned by the discriminatory interpretation and implementation of provisions of the Criminal Law Act, the Public Order Act and the Personal Status Act. The Special Rapporteur noted that over 26 laws, including the Personal Status Act, contained provisions that were discriminatory towards women. Proposed changes at the federal level included: an amendment to the minimum age of marriage; the harmonization of domestic substantive and procedural laws with international human rights standards; and the ratification of CEDAW and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 10) JS2 noted Sudan did not accept previous recommendations to reform NSSA (2010) and did not amend its laws on marriage, custody, divorce, property rights, and indecency in compliance with international human rights law and as previously accepted recommendation.

Para 48) JS1 noted that in the first cycle Sudan accepted recommendations on gender equality and women's equal rights, and on steps to amend/repeal all discriminatory provisions in the Sudanese Nationality Act of 1994. However, children can only acquire citizenship from their Sudanese mothers through an application process, whereas children of Sudanese fathers acquire Sudanese citizenship automatically.

National Report:
Para 11) The [Criminal Code] was amended in 2015 with the addition of the offence of sexual harassment and the separation of the offence of rape from that of adultery in article 149, thereby removing all ambiguity and ensuring just and fair treatment for victims. Two paragraphs were added to article 88: paragraph (a) which makes it a crime for public officials to abuse their office or authority, and paragraph (b) which defines a public official as anyone who works in a legislative, executive, administrative or judicial capacity, whether appointed or elected.

Para 97) The Criminal Code as amended in 2015 stipulates penalties for offences that fall within the concept of violence against women such as sexual harassment. It also differentiates between adultery and rape.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 28) HRW, JS2 and JS7 were concerned that rape crimes continued to be used as a weapon, with allegations about the rape of 200 women in 2014 in Tabit, Darfur by SAF which were not investigated thoroughly or punished.

National Report:
Para 22) Sudan is in the process of ratifying the following instruments: • CEDAW (1979);

National Report:
Para 19) The Government has continued to develop strategies, plans and programmes, which it is seeking to roll out. They include: … Standard national operating procedures for the prevention of gender-based violence 2020;
Para 24) The State has continued to reform and develop domestic legislation by amending existing provisions or passing new ones, in line with obligations arising from international instruments and with a view to promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms. Since the submission of its second report, the State has issued the Constitutional Document for the transitional period in addition to a number of pieces of legislation, as follows: … (c) The process of legislative reform also envisages the review and enactment or a number of bills: … • Bill to combat domestic violence;
Para 69) In line with the Constitutional Document, the Government has appointed women to leadership positions, including that of presidency of a state and head of a ministry, as well as to leading roles in the judiciary.
Para 76) The Constitutional Document and the Juba Peace Agreement envisage a political will to uphold freedoms and to provide opportunities for the involvement of women at a level of at least 40 per cent.
Para 75) The State’s responsibility to protect women’s rights as enshrined in international and regional agreements ratified by Sudan is set forth in article 49 of the Constitutional Document, which upholds women’s rights in all areas and enjoins the State to practise positive discrimination in their favour, to combat customs and traditions that are harmful to their dignity and to provide free health care for mothers, children and pregnant women.
Para 76) The Constitutional Document and the Juba Peace Agreement envisage a political will to uphold freedoms and to provide opportunities for the involvement of women at a level of at least 40 per cent.
Para 77) The State has developed its national strategy to combat violence against women 2015– 2030.
Para 80) On 17 February 2020, a document was approved containing unified standard working procedures to address and respond to cases of gender-based violence in Sudan.
Para 81) The Unit to Combat Violence against Women has been created, with support from UNFPA. The Unit, which acts as a coordinating mechanism for the implementation of policies intended to prevent anti-female violence, has been running a hotline for women who have suffered violence during the COVID-19 pandemic. Family and child units in the capital city and in the states also work to combat violence against girls. They include the General Directorate for Women and the Family, the Unit to Combat Violence against Women (which has 18 branches in the capital and in the states), state-level women’s mechanisms and sectoral ministries. Moreover, there are women and family affairs departments in a number of ministries and government institutions, including in their offices at the state level.
Para 82) With a view to ensuring the provision of integrated health services for women and girls who are victims of sexual violence, the Public Prosecutor issued circular No. 6 of 2016 under which women who have suffered violence or serious abuse are to be given priority access to immediate treatment and assistance. Under the order, such cases are given precedence over other cases and are not required to fulfil the requirements of schedule 8 before gaining access to testing, treatment or assistance. They also have the right to pursue legal action on the basis of the medical report, leading to the punishment of the offenders and compensation for the victim.
Para 84) Family and child protection units, which incorporate specialized prosecution offices, have been set up in all states of Sudan.
Para 99) In its efforts to pursue the effective implementation of legislative measures intended to combat violence against women and children, the State has taken steps to protect women and girls, particularly those with disabilities. In terms of legislation, the Criminal Code envisages penalties for crimes, such as sexual harassment, that fall under the definition of violence against women, while the 2014 Anti-Human Trafficking Act, as amended in 2021, envisages harsher penalties for trafficking when the victims are women, children or persons with disabilities.
Para 101) … Moreover, in order to promote gender equality and to empower women and girls with disabilities and help them exercise their human rights, the protection of women with disabilities has been included in the raft of integrated policies envisaged under the national strategy to combat violence against women.

UN Compilation:
Para 8) The Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Sudan welcomed the reports on the endorsement of the Miscellaneous Amendments Act by the Joint Council in July 2020, which provided for amendments to the Criminal Code of 1991. … The Act also criminalized actions that included gender-based discrimination and provided for better protection for women’s rights.
Para 12) The HR Committee was concerned about the persistence of entrenched discriminatory provisions in legislation, in particular in the areas of family law and personal status …
Para 46) The Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the Sudan noted that women in the Sudan were at the forefront of the peaceful protest. They had also been among the primary victims of violence, including human rights violations and sexual violence, during the course of the protest and the reporting period. He commended the great emphasis the constitutional document placed on women’s rights. Article 7 (7) provided for assurances to guarantee and promote women’s rights in the Sudan in all social, political and economic fields, and to combat all forms of discrimination against women, taking into account provisional preferential measures in both war and peace. Article 48 expanded women’s rights provisions by stating that all women’s rights enshrined in international and regional treaties ratified by the Sudan would be recognized and protected by the State.
Para 47) The United Nations country team noted that gender-based violence remained hugely underreported and was a critical concern in the Sudan both in humanitarian and conflict settings, exacerbated by the exit of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 70) JS22 noted that, because of the political and economic situation, violence against women and girls, and gender disparities have exacerbated to an extent that required urgent and comprehensive measures to address the problem as a national crisis. JS22 noted the launch of a hotline for domestic and gender-based violence as a positive step …
Para 74) JS24 noted that women and girls were unequal before the law. For example, the testimony of two women being needed to counteract that of one man in certain trials before a judge. A widow can only inherit one-eighth of her husband’s estate, with the remainder going to the children. Even then, a two to one majority share would be inherited by the sons versus the daughter. Legal measures also include adultery charges for Muslim women that choose to marry a non-Muslim man, but the lack of penalty in the reverse situation for men.
Para 75) JS13 noted that the Juba Agreement stipulates women’s representation in all levels of government and decision-making in a fair and effective manner, with a representation of no less than 40%. Thus, a representation rate of 15.3% in the current cabinet is an explicit violation and contravention of the Constitution.
Para 76) JS23 noted that the Miscellaneous Amendments Act abolished flogging for violation of the public decency law, envisaged by Article 152 of the Criminal Code, and removed the wording “wears an indecent or immoral dress”. However, Article 152 can still be used, as it has been in its past form, by authorities to target Christian women and girls for indecent clothing (on the basis of not covering their head or wearing trousers) with reference to its legally vague language without a safeguard for an objective standard.

National Report:
Para 22) Sudan is in the process of ratifying the following instruments: • CEDAW (1979);