Women Face Harsh Discrimination in Sudanese Society

Last updated: 5 October 2026

Photo: South Sudan July 2012 - EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid

Sudanese women face a complex and intersecting system of legal, social, and conflict-related discrimination. Sharia-derived personal status laws, weak protections against violence, entrenched patriarchal social norms, and the collapse of state institutions during the civil war that began in April 2023 have created a situation in which women experience widespread inequality and insecurity. The conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces has dramatically intensified existing vulnerabilities, leading to mass displacement, breakdown of social services, and a surge in gender-based violence. This report examines legal discrimination, gender-based violence, harmful practices, economic marginalisation, and the implications for international protection claims.[1]

Legal Discrimination and Personal Status Law

The 2019 Constitutional Declaration formally guarantees equality before the law. However, Sudan's legal system continues under a framework heavily influenced by Islamic personal status law. The Muslim Personal Status Law of 1991 codifies gender inequality: women cannot marry without a male guardian's consent, the law emphasises a wife's obligation to obey her husband, child marriage remains legal with no minimum age, husbands may divorce unilaterally while women must pursue judicial proceedings, custody rights revert to fathers at certain ages, and daughters receive half the inheritance share of sons. Attempts to reform this law have repeatedly faced strong political and religious opposition. Sudan ratified CEDAW in 2000 but entered reservations to key provisions including Articles 2 and 16, significantly weakening its obligations.[2]

Gender-Based Violence and Conflict-Related Sexual Violence

Gender-based violence was widespread before the current conflict. The absence of comprehensive domestic violence legislation, limited legal definitions of rape, social stigma discouraging reporting, and weak law enforcement all contributed to persistent violence. The civil war erupted in April 2023 has dramatically increased prevalence: by 2024, demand for GBV services doubled and approximately 6.7 million people required GBV-related assistance. Reports indicate that women and girls aged 9 to 60 have been subjected to rape, forced marriage, and prolonged captivity. The UN Fact-Finding Mission found credible evidence that armed groups, particularly RSF forces, committed widespread sexual violence including gang rape, sexual slavery, abduction, and forced marriage.[3]

Child Marriage and Female Genital Mutilation

Child marriage remains common: 34% of women aged 20-24 were married before age 18 and 12% before age 15, with rates significantly higher in rural areas. The war has intensified this trend as displacement and economic hardship lead families to resort to early marriage as a coping strategy. Sudan also has one of the highest rates of FGM globally, with nearly 90% of women and girls having undergone the practice, mostly between ages five and nine. Sudan criminalised FGM in 2020 but enforcement has been extremely limited due to cultural acceptance and the breakdown of government institutions.[4]

Economic Marginalisation and Education

Female labour force participation stands at 14.5% compared to 61.6% for men, placing Sudan among the lowest-ranking countries globally. Structural barriers include discriminatory social norms, limited access to education and training, childcare responsibilities, and restrictions on mobility and economic independence. Even where women achieve higher education, employment opportunities remain limited. The civil war has devastated women's economic situation further: women and girls constitute approximately 78% of displaced populations, 80% of hospitals in conflict areas are non-functioning, and access to reproductive healthcare has largely collapsed.[5]

Asylum Risk Profiles for Sudanese Women

Organisations Monitoring the Situation

Analytical Assessment

The status of women in Sudan reflects the interaction of deeply rooted structural inequalities and the devastating impact of armed conflict. The Muslim Personal Status Law of 1991 codifies gender discrimination in marriage, divorce, custody, and inheritance, creating a legal framework in which women are formally subordinate to male authority within the family. Sudan's reservations to CEDAW Articles 2 and 16 demonstrate that the state has explicitly reserved the right to maintain these discriminatory provisions. For international protection claims, this legal framework establishes that gender-based discrimination is not merely a social phenomenon but is embedded in the state's own legal system.[6]

The civil war has transformed pre-existing gender vulnerability into a humanitarian catastrophe affecting millions of women. The UN Fact-Finding Mission's conclusion that patterns of sexual violence may constitute crimes against humanity, including the finding that women were targeted on the basis of both gender and ethnicity in Darfur, establishes a dual persecution nexus that is directly relevant to refugee status determination. The collapse of 80% of hospitals in conflict areas and the absence of GBV services mean that survivors of sexual violence face not only the initial harm but the denial of any effective remedy or treatment.[7]

The convergence of legal discrimination, harmful practices (FGM at 90%, child marriage at 34%), economic marginalisation (14.5% female labour force participation), and conflict-related sexual violence creates a cumulative pattern of gender-based persecution that satisfies the threshold for international protection. The absence of effective state protection, compounded by the ongoing civil war and the collapse of institutional capacity, means that Sudanese women face risks that are structural, documented, and without realistic prospect of domestic remedy.[8]