INTRODUCTION

In the months following the powerful revolution of 2019 that toppled the Islamist regime, the city of Khartoum underwent significant changes, and there was a sense of optimism in the capital. One of the chief changes was the repeal of Khartoum’s Public Order Laws, which guaranteed a step forward in the protection of women from the brutality of state violence. However, the deep detrimental impact of the Islamist government cannot be easily reversed simply by its removal and therefore, the issues underpinning the Islamist government must be addressed. Throughout the years of the Islamist regime, women experienced heightened surveillance while out in public, which resulted in their inability to move about freely. The policing of women in the public sphere became normalized through the public order laws that controlled women’s behavior and dress. The increased surveillance of women by the state resulted in a considerable shift in women’s mobility in the public sphere. In terms of employment, this translated into an increase in occupational segregation. That is not to say that segregation in employment did not exist prior to the Islamist government, but rather sheds light on how this divide was intensified by the power of the Islamist regime. Professions were delineated into distinct economic sectors for men and women. Due to the defined boundaries of women’s employment, gender stereotypes have sadly, been maintained. In this context, stereotypes within the laws are solidified to perpetuate the belief that the private sphere is the only legitimate space for women. Following this framework, women are guided toward ‘soft’ employment that often represents an extension of their domestic activities.

It is important to acknowledge how distinct groups of Sudanese women experience these stereotypes in the labor market differently. As a result of prolonged civil conflict, poverty, and natural disaster, a substantial part of the rural Sudanese population have moved to urban centers, fuelling the rapidly growing class of urban poor who work in the informal sector. While displaced men dominate construction work, public transport jobs, and manual work, displaced women take on more precarious forms of self-employment that expose them to greater risks, including harassment from authorities. This has created a pipeline for displaced and marginalized women to enter informal and precarious forms of self-employment that are often an extension of their domestic, unpaid labor. Women in the informal sector face immeasurable challenges. In the face of resistance and social pressure to perform stereotypically feminine jobs, women are forced to negotiate their participation in the informal sector. However, despite the challenges facing Sudanese women socially and politically, women have

shown their agency in resisting the dominant structures that limit their mobility and access to employment by challenging stereotypes and entering male-dominated fields. This includes but is not limited to women livestock traders, rickshaw drivers and mechanics.

Utilizing data collected from an in-depth study of SIHA’s BGS Phase II Project, this report examines the project’s contributions with regard to challenging gender norms and stereotypes that affect women’s vocational education and employment in Greater Khartoum, Sudan. This report contextualizes the experiences of women participants by understanding how their social position affects their access to education and employment. By analyzing the structures that cement women’s exclusion and maintain gender stereotypes, this research calls into question the factors that hinder women’s ability to engage in vocational training and to access the workforce. Discriminatory state-laws and policies related to women’s employment and public life that address women’s safety, and access to as well as agency in the workplace, must be studied. This will facilitate discussions on whether practical approaches toward achieving human rights and gender equality, such as providing vocational training for women and access to employment, can have a ripple effect in helping to change social norms concerning gender inequality and women’s rights.

In addition to assessing shifts in policy, this research will rely on in-depth interviews and focus group discussions to gauge changes in perceptions, attitudes and behaviors regarding gender stereotypes. The discussion aims to capture the experiences of urban poor women by reflecting on the uniqueness of their experiences and prioritizing their voices. Arguments are careful not to falsely idealize Sudan’s history with regard to gender relations prior to the rise of the Islamist regime. The artificial divide between Sudan pre and post Islamists serves to reduce the complexity of patriarchy and its functions. In order to avoid oversimplification, this research is cognizant of gender inequalities existing prior to Al-Bashir’s government. However, it prioritizes the legal and social landscape under political Islamist rule. Lastly, this report concludes with recommendations to explore new avenues aimed at identifying the best ways to instigate both political and behavioral change toward women in the workforce, particularly in non-gender, stereotypical jobs. Furthermore, this report begins a more nuanced conversation on the larger mission of breaking gender stereotypes for women in post-revolution Sudan.