Forgotten, Abused, Abandoned

Women are ripped of their dignity and pride, and are succumbed to being mere objects in the eyes of Sudanese men. 

by Antara Verma 

A brick came at her head. He was furious, that day. The sun was relentlessly spitting rays of scorching sunlight onto the mud hut, causing a far drier atmosphere than usual. This angered her husband of three years. The brick struck Anak’s temple with a vicious slap, leaving a red-orange trail of dust and a pool of blood behind. She crumpled with affliction and shock. He walked over and grabbed Anak by her throat, holding her up to block out the sunlight. Villagers walked by the open show of abuse, trying not to make eye contact with either of them. This was not an uncommon sighting. “Do not cross me again, woman. I am already providing you three meals a day, water and clothes.” Her orange dress was barely on her body when the brick had come hurling at her head, and was slipping off as she gasped for air. He dropped her. She recoiled and crawled to the corner of the hut, where she curled up into a ball as her husband grabbed his small brown tote and left.

This was not uncommon in Southern Sudan. A country full of gender inequality. It is unconventional how many women in Sudan are treated with such injustice, that they are not permitted to leave their spouse even if they are on the treacherous brink of death. Sudan is ranked 169th out of 187 countries in Women’s Rights in the United Nations. This implies that women are constantly harassed on the street, are sold by their families to shady men, and are brutally abused and raped. There seems to be no change due to the partial and unfair rules that the Sudanese Government relies on.

Anok cannot divorce her exceptionally abusive spouse as women have very restricted rights as to divorcing men. Divorce is only permitted if there is a case of extreme domestic assault or if the male is unable to provide financially. Often women are too battered to travel to court to defend themselves. There is also extreme bias in legal courts of Sudan, as applying for a divorce and carrying it through is a lot of work and requires a lot of time and effort. This bias leads to a woman sometimes being evicted for provoking a man, or being blamed for being beaten.

“You girl, wait.” Two Sudanese men called to Safia Ishag, a teenager and a budding artist at the time. Safia attempted to run but was unable to escape the strength of the men. Brutally shoved into a small white car, Safia was driven to a run down building located near a bus station in Southern Sudan. She was beaten ferociously, hit on the leg and temple. Passing out for 15 minutes, Safia woke to the dreadful sight of three men constantly raping her. She was also still being beaten. Safia was in the building for two days, praying for the torture to conclude. After what felt like a year, she was released. “If we ever see you again, this will seem like a joyride.” One of the men called to her as she attempted to walk out of the building. The men received no consequences for the rape and assault whatsoever.

Thousands of girls like Safia are raped on a day-to-day basis in Sudan. According to the World Health Organization, 90% of women in North Sudan have undergone gender mutilation, a process where a certain part of a woman’s genital is cut off to make intercourse more pleasurable for men. Due to lack of sympathy, this is done when the woman is awake, causing extreme pain and discomfort for the woman. Most of these women are impregnated by the rapist, and due to Sudanese Laws, are unable to get an abortion unless it is to save their life.

Rape is defined as the offence of “zina” which is intercourse between a man and a woman who are not married to one another and performed without consent. Often, if the women is not able to prove it was rape, she is charged with zina as she is admitting to have intercourse out of marriage, and is then beaten. Basically, she is punished for being a victim. Rape is a crime in Sudan, that is punished by either 10-100 lashes. However, there is no law criminalizing domestic violence, sexual harassment or spousal rape. Also, a man can avoid punishment due to rape by marrying his victim, providing the woman agrees.

Another arising problem in Sudan are child marriages. 36% of women in Sudan are married off before the age of 18, and 12% before 15. In total, 26.7% aged 15-19 were married. This was in 2006, it is estimated these percentages have grown by a large amount.

Her uncle told her she was to marry. Akuot was only 15, and wanted to get an education. She wanted to study and practice medicine. He told her her father didn’t pay enough dowry for her mother, but that she was beautiful and would be worth plenty of cows. Akuot refused her uncle, and demanded to be excused from wedlock until she turned 18. Instead, her uncle ambushed her, locking her into a mud hut for 3 days, tying her arms and legs with an electric cable. Akuot had to drink her own urine to stop herself from dying of dehydration in the scorching Sudanese sun.

In most cases, after the actual act of marriage, and the events leading up to it, comes years of physical and mental abuse. Sometimes this also ends in abandonment.

Being 14, Mary had very little experience as to what do if ever attacked by 42 year old man. She was being slapped multiple times. Her spouse wanted to prevent her from leaving. She was beaten till she was on the ground. Mary’s husband then retrieved an old axe from under the bed, slapping Mary with it. He wanted to cut her head, but Mary held onto his arm. Trying to defend her face, she raised her hand but was instead cut by the axe. She called out for her mother.

Thousands of girls are also impregnated by their spouses at the horrific age of 12-16. The younger the girl, the more risks there are for long term health issues, and often death. Many girls die during pregnancy, sometimes because the family cannot afford to take the girl to the hospital, also because babies just don’t come out due to lack of dilation. Often, girls are forced to be cut open to receive the baby, usually without anesthetic causing unbelievable pain.

Sudan has very few shelters for fleeing girls to seek refuge in. These girls have nothing when they leave. No source of income or food to depend on. This is because of extreme lack of awareness. Few people outside Sudan are aware of the severity of the situation. Already being one of the poorest counties in the world, Sudan has close to no funds to help these escaping girls, the donations they do receive, automatically goes to medicine, food and building wells for a steady income of clean water. It is vital for the Sudanese to have these things, which is why this is one of the few cases where money is not the most distinguishable exponent.

As a UWC student, it is highly unlikely for a person of a calibre as low as mine to alter the way Sudanese men treat women, however, it is very likely for a person of a calibre as low as mine to influence and inspire the way my parents, friends, or teachers think of the situation. As students of an institution as powerful and prosperous as UWC, we all have the extreme advantage of knowledge. Knowledge, and connections. Having the information in our heads, and knowing what exactly is going on will help us spread this knowledge to our connections. These connections have their own connections, and those to their own. Slowly, a whole community would have a relatively general understanding of gender inequality where at least a small percentage would like to take action.
Girls do not get any education. Girls are married off to a stranger, where they must protect and pray for themselves everyday, hoping not to die. Girls are often blamed if raped. Girls cannot divorce their spouses, even if they come to court with scars and cuts. They are basically objects, objects that are born to marry and produce babies. It is a vicious cycle that has been going on for decades, should we just let it?