In theory, the center administratively follows the laws and guidelines of the Supreme Council for Vocational Training and Apprenticeship. These laws make no reference to limitations on women’s admission in vocational education. Similarly, there is no official reference concerning the ban of women from apprenticeships at the training center, itself. Yet, as research has uncovered, administrators have taken it upon themselves to limit women’s choices by only granting them access to particular departments. There is no certainty as to when the practice of limiting women’s access to vocational education began but Niyazi’s response presumes that it was an unspoken norm in the institution born from the discriminatory rules of society. This example shows how women’s access to spaces is effectively deterred even when there is no clear legal precedent for denying them. In this instance, actors utilize social codes to govern women’s access to education, namely by defining what kind of education is appropriate for women. This underlines how, despite being granted equal access within the law, the state’s norms and values affect society’s expectations of women. Historically, women’s participation at the vocational institute was kept purposefully low. Thus, it may be argued that the vocational institute represented a site of resistance for women who managed to enter that space.
GENDER TRAVELS Movement from one region to another affects gender norms, values and expectations, which in turn, are influenced by exposure to new institutionalized structures of gender that appear in social relationships, and in the economic and political realms.
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Migration is a gendered
process in itself, as migration can stem from and instigates social change. With that being said, questions around migration and gendered social change are critical to understanding the spaces and opportunities available to any given group, where migration results in transforming gender discourse, norms and behavior.22 The migration of Sudanese groups from peripheral regions to Greater Khartoum demonstrates the aforementioned shift in gender discourse as a result of migration. The process of re-gendering the women who migrate to the urban center reveals an interesting link to occupational segregation. A focus group discussion with SIHA staff brought to light the roles of women in their diverse hometowns across Sudan. This included women’s major roles in agriculture in North Kordofan, charcoal making and hut building in the Blue Nile state, and brick making, tree
Näre, L., & Akhtar, P. (2014), Gendered mobilities and social change—An introduction to the Special Issue on Gender, Mobility, Women’s Studies International Forum
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22
Ibid. pg. 5
Negotiating Space: Sudanese Women’s access to Vocational Education & Employment
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