
In Sudan, on December 19, 2018, people took to the streets to protest a precipitous rise in bread prices. Since then, protests have persisted and grown. As so often in food uprisings, the price of food was the visible spark that revealed an undergrowth of fire, and, as so often, women of Sudan set and sustained the spark. On June 3, freedom loving, democracy building people, `civilians’, `protesters’ were butchered by the so-called Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, under the leadership of Mohamed Hamdan Dagolo, also known as Hemeti, also known as the Frankenstein of Khartoum.The RSF are also known as the Janjaweed, the group that terrorized Darfur for years, with particularly brutal violence against women. Killing at least 128 people, brutalizing everyone, raping women en masse, was meant to intimidate the masses, especially the women, into silence and submission. It didn’t. On June 30, in response to a call for a “millions march”, hundreds of thousands of people hit the streets. Eleven people were killed. On Monday, a call was issued for mass civil disobedience on July 14. Your news media may or may not be covering these events, but, in Sudan, the revolution continues, and, in Sudan, this revolution is women’s revolution: “Throughout Sudan’s ongoing revolution, women have led the chants for freedom, justice and peace.” Women have led and women are leading.
While Sudanese women attach a multitude of meanings and aspirations to freedom, justice and peace, they are united and uniform in their insistence that the military step down and turn over power to civilian authority. To that end, the women are united in their determination that the movement in Sudan for freedom, justice and peace is a revolutionary movement. That means that those who committed atrocities, and particularly those who used rape and other forms of sexual violence and intimidation as a weapon of State, will be held accountable. While many women differ on what sorts of freedom they want, for women, for everyone, they are clear and united in the determination that this is the moment to broaden and deepen the space(s) for freedom, for women and for everyone.
For 30 years, Sudanese women have organized and mobilized to end the dictatorship and to establish a just, egalitarian, democratic, free society and nation-State. For 30 years, women in Sudan have refused to sit down, shut up, disappear. When the current regime shut the internet, women opened windows and doors, as they have done for the past three decades. In Sudan, today, women are organizing, mobilizing, chanting, singing, refusing to be shut down or shut out, demanding freedom, chanting, “Long live the struggle of Sudanese women!” “This revolution is women’s revolution!”

(Photo Credit 1: Global Fund for Women) (Photo Credit 2: BBC / EPA)
Sudan crisis: Women praise end of strict public order law https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-50596805
Sudan ‘on path to democracy’ as ex-ruling party is dissolved https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/29/sudan-dissolves-ex-ruling-party-and-repeals-morality-law?
Ex-Sudan leader Omar al-Bashir sentenced to two years of detention https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/14/sudanese-court-sentences-omar-al-bashir-to-2-years-in-prison
Ex-Sudan strongman al-Bashir gets 2 years for corruption https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/ex-sudan-strongman-al-bashir-gets-2-years-for-corruption/2019/12/14/45634db2-1e57-11ea-977a-15a6710ed6da_story.html
Sudan’s transitional government completes 100 days in office https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/sudans-transitional-government-completes-100-days-office-191217122037422.html
Rally for women’s rights in Sudanese capital https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/rally-for-women-s-rights-in-sudan
Justice and accountability for human rights violations must be prioritized https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/12/sudan-one-year-after-protests-began-time-to-deliver-on-human-rights/
No Oppression against Women Initiative calls for ‘social peace’ in Sudan https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/no-oppression-against-women-initiative-calls-for-social-peace-in-sudan
Sudan Celebrates the Anniversary of the Country’s Uprising https://www.okayafrica.com/one-year-commemoration-of-sudan-protests/
Sudan recognises Christmas as an official holiday https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/sudan-recognises-christmas-official-holiday-191226115201092.html
Sudan after Bashir: ‘The revolution is on the curriculum’ https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-50835344
Women’s rights movement is growing in Sudan https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/women-rights-movement-is-growing-in-sudan
Sudan women want greater role in Juba negotiations https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/sudan-women-want-greater-role-in-juba-negotiations
“Chaos and Fire” https://phr.org/our-work/resources/chaos-and-fire-an-analysis-of-sudans-june-3-2019-khartoum-massacre/
Sudan accused of masterminding lethal attacks on Khartoum protesters https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/mar/05/sudan-accused-of-masterminding-lethal-attacks-on-khartoum-protesters
Dress codes and dancing: Sudan sees culture thaw after Bashir. http://news.trust.org/item/20200316142904-u2hu4/
How the people of Sudan pulled off an improbable revolution https://theconversation.com/how-the-people-of-sudan-pulled-off-an-improbable-revolution-132808
Sudan: A Year On, Justice Needed for Crackdowns https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/04/10/sudan-year-justice-needed-crackdowns
The Year We Change Sudan’s Personal Status Act https://africanfeminism.com/the-year-we-change-sudans-personal-status-act/
A year later: Sudanese women raped in crackdown seek justice https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/06/year-sudanese-women-raped-crackdown-seek-justice-200603095005383.html
Sudanese women seek justice one year after pro-democracy crackdown https://www.pri.org/stories/2020-06-03/sudanese-women-seek-justice-one-year-after-pro-democracy-crackdown
Sudan to ban FGM, strengthen women’s rights. http://news.trust.org/item/20200712110513-rd2pe/
Sudan Introduces Wide-Reaching Reforms To Move Away From Strict Islamist Rule https://www.npr.org/2020/07/13/890558059/sudan-introduces-wide-reaching-reforms-to-move-away-from-strict-islamist-rule
Sudan uprising: Sweeping reforms usher in justice and freedom https://globalvoices.org/2020/07/14/sudan-uprising-sweeping-reforms-usher-in-justice-and-freedom/
Sudan campaign demands women governors https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/sudan-campaign-demands-women-governors
‘Thank you, our glorious revolution’: activists react as Sudan ditches Islamist laws https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jul/16/thank-you-our-glorious-revolution-activists-react-as-sudan-ditches-islamist-laws
Sudan’s ex-strongman on trial over coup that brought him to power https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/21/sudan-former-ruler-omar-al-bashir-on-trial-accused-of-plotting-miltary-coup
Khartoum protest against low representation of women https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/khartoum-protest-against-low-representation-of-women
Sudan’s political change gives hope for young women and girls. Here’s why https://theconversation.com/sudans-political-change-gives-hope-for-young-women-and-girls-heres-why-144293
Sudanese women sign declaration for ‘strategic feminist coalition’ https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/sudanese-women-sign-declaration-for-strategic-feminist-coalition
Women lead in Sudan’s clamour for good governance https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/september-2020/women-lead-sudan%E2%80%99s-clamour-good-governance
In Sudan, women are still facing the deadly threat of the military https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/north-africa-west-asia/sudan-women-are-still-facing-deadly-threat-military/
Sudanese women show that peace requires participation not just representation https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/north-africa-west-asia/sudanese-women-show-peace-requires-participation-not-just-representation/
Two years after Sudan’s revolution, demonstrators march with demands for change https://globalvoices.org/2020/12/21/two-years-after-sudans-revolution-demonstrators-march-with-demands-for-change/