The interviewee redirects the question, restructuring the conversation to whether women are willing to forego their femininity to actively participate in the field. This perspective is problematic as it positions femininity as a barrier to this field of employment and removes responsibility from all other actors. The reference to women’s need to adhere to the uniform required for the job (commonly trousers) juxtaposes the abovementionedIslamic dress code, which was imposed by Presidential decree, and the public order laws that made women’s ‘immodest’ dress punishable by law. Due to the arbitrary nature of the law, women wearing trousers were frequently labeled immodest and punished by means of imprisonment, flogging and monetary fines. Refocusing the discussion with this knowledge highlights the obstacles placed on women entering the industrial area for employment. The incompatibility of women’s work attire and public norms concerning women’s dress, places women in a conundrum. If the state-regulated dress code is not adhered to, women are exposed to the unpredictable punishments of the law. So, if women dress appropriately and according to the code of their work place in the Industrial area, they are left vulnerable and susceptible to street harassment and societal shaming for being ‘immodest’ according to the law. This constitutes a very real hardship for women and a significant barrier to entering certain fields and public spaces.
CHALLENGES TO WOMEN’S SAFETY IN NON-TRADITIONAL WORKSPACES In recognizing that women’s occupancy in these spaces exposes them to more harassment, men of varying political and ideological backgrounds, place the responsibility on women to have the right character or as one interviewee described it, ‘charisma’ to subvert sexual harassment in the workplace.30
“If a woman is in front of a man, of course he is going to at least catcall her. It’s totally natural! It is on the woman to be trained in combating men’s natural behavior.”31
Similarly, an employee at a mechanic shop in Khartoum stated, “Women can find good opportunities in this field but they have to be strong enough to handle the difficulties of being a woman on the street. Eventually, it will be normalized but they have to fight through this
FGD, Khartoum, Vocational Training Staff, January 7th, 2020
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FGD, Khartoum, Vocational Training Staff, January 7th, 2020
Negotiating Space: Sudanese Women’s access to Vocational Education & Employment
Page No. 20
