Criminalizing Female Genital Mutilation in Sudan: Women’s Substantive Representation in the Making

Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) is recognized internationally as a harmful traditional practice that reflects deep-rooted inequality between the sexes, and constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against. Sudan is among the select few countries in the world where FGM/C is the most widespread (86.6% in 2014), but has yet to criminalize the practice. With extensive international support and funding, an initiative supported by Islamist women inside the as government in tandem with independent women activists was taken to criminalize all forms of FGM/C as part of the 2009 National Child Act in Sudan, but it ultimately failed to be enacted. FGM/C is a doctrinal gender status issue (htun and Weldon 2010) in Sudan and the initiative to criminalize sparked counter-mobilization by conservative religious actors defending FGM as ‘Sunna’, that is following the prophetic tradition. Specifically the country’s growing the Salafi movement, a conservative Islamic trend inspired by Wahhabi Islam, mobilized extensively against criminalization. Building on extensive interviews conducted in Sudan between 2010 and 2016, this paper traces women’s mobilization and arguments for criminalization of FGM/C. Despite the fact that the initiative to criminalize FGM/C ultimately failed, the paper argues that women’s substantive representation can be traced. Recognizing that the nature of substantive representation is multifaceted, ‘acts for women’ do not guarantee that these will lead to legislation that advances women’s interests (Franceschet and Piscopo 2008). Not only was a gender status issue which has long been considered taboo put on the national political agenda, but Sudanese women challenged religious scholar’s monopoly of Islamic interpretation. Women inside and outside of the National Assembly put forth arguments against FGM/C within the framework of Islam and has been able to bring on board some religious scholars in the continued advocacy for criminalization for FGM/C.