Sudan has banned female genital mutilation, bringing a decade-long effort to completion. At present, almost all women in the country are victims of this practice.
Like many other countries, Sudan is also in lockdown to halt the spread of coronavirus. Despite the emergency, the government has not shied away from taking an important step to safeguard the rights of women and girls by banning female genital mutilation (FGM). Thanks to an amendment to the penal code, the practice will now be punishable by up to three years in prison and financial penalties. In this way, the north-east African country joins others such as Somalia and Nigeria that are at the forefront of efforts to eradicate this custom.
Sudan ranks 166th out of 187 countries in the United Nations index measuring gender disparities in terms of access to reproductive health, political representation, education and employment. The decision to ban FGM, approved by the council of ministers on 22 April, signals the willingness of Sudanese political forces to address this gap. All that remains is the approval of the Sovereign Council, which heads the transitional government tasked with steering the country towards elections and, ultimately, democracy.
Traditionally, in Sudan girls are "circumcised" so that they can marry and to preserve family honour — a belief widespread in other countries across Africa, Asia and the Middle East as well. Nine out of ten Sudanese women (87 per cent) have undergone the practice, according to data from a government survey conducted in 2010 and confirmed by Unicef. Girls as young as five to fifteen years old have their external genitalia removed, with the wound then sewn shut through a process known as infibulation: this is the third type of FGM according to the World Health Organization's classification, which divides the practice into four categories. In addition to the serious health risks — such as infections and complications during childbirth — the profound psychological trauma caused must not be underestimated either.
The decision to ban the practice follows years of campaigning by activists and organisations fighting for the rights of women and girls, including Unicef, and is "an enormous step forward for Sudan and for the new government," declared Nimco Ali of the Five Foundation, an NGO committed to combating FGM worldwide. As far back as 2008, six out of eighteen states in the country had banned the custom, but with scant results; in 2016, former president Omar al-Bashir — deposed the following year after thirty years in power — had attempted to extend these measures nationwide, but without success due to opposition from religious and conservative elites.
"There is still a lot to do, but this is a good start," according to Fatma Naib, Unicef communications officer in Sudan; "it is now crucial to ensure that those who carry out mutilations are punished." It is likely, in fact, that the adoption of the new law alone will not be enough to put an end to such a deeply rooted custom. This is illustrated by the case of Egypt, one of the countries with the highest rate of FGM, where the practice continues despite being illegal, in a general climate of impunity. To stop it, work must be done with communities, because "the intention is not to criminalise parents, but to inform the groups involved — midwives, healthcare workers, families and young people — about the adoption of the law and to ensure that they accept it," in the words of Abdullah Fadil, Unicef representative in Sudan.
Words are not enough — what is needed is action. Especially when we consider that, while according to the United Nations (UN) 200 million women and girls worldwide are victims of genital mutilation, the true figure could be far higher. The estimate is in fact based on data from 31 countries, 27 of which are African, but according to a 2018 report there are more than 90 nations in which significant numbers of FGM cases are recorded: not only in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, but also in countries with migrant communities from these regions in Europe, North America and Latin America.
Another study, however, also highlights positive results, such as the reduction in the number of women subjected to FGM in eastern Africa from over 70 per cent in 1995 to 8 per cent twenty years later. There is still much to be done to eliminate the practice by 2030, one of the targets of the UN's Sustainable Development Goal number five, which aims to achieve gender equality. It is important to celebrate steps forward such as the one taken by Sudan and to continue campaigning at an international level through initiatives such as the world day against female genital mutilation. Furthermore, it is essential to acknowledge the success stories of countries such as Senegal, Ethiopia and Kenya and to apply their principles in all those contexts where women are not yet free to choose how to protect and value their own bodies.
