UPR Sexual Rights Database

National Report:
Para 105) Work began on a draft law to prevent female genital mutilation in 2007. The draft was reviewed by a national committee for the review of laws related to women's rights in 2012-2013, and a series of consultative meetings between the Ministry of Justice and parliamentarians took place.

Para 107) The National Council for Child Welfare, in cooperation with the National Council for Strategic Planning, drafted the national strategy 2008-2018 to prevent female genital mutilation in the Sudan. The aim of the strategy is to build capacity in institutions and in civil society, and to develop skills in society as a whole in order to help people to abandon this practice. Goals of the strategy include enacting legislation to prohibit and criminalize female genital mutilation ... The implementation of the strategy is proceeding as planned.

Para 108) In 2015, the State introduced a national strategy to end child marriage. Sixteen days of activities were organized in November 2015 to stop violence against women and child marriage and to encourage the education of girls. In the same year agreement was reached with the European Union on three projects within the framework of the European Instrument for Democracy & Human Rights. The projects seek to eradicate harmful traditional practices such as child marriage and circumcision, to establish the rights of women in civil status legislation, and to provide psychological, social and legal support for female victims of human rights violations.

UN Compilation:
Para 36) UNESCO noted the strategy to eliminate female genital mutilation. It appeared, however, that the Sudan had not taken further steps to prohibit the practice and educate the women on their rights.

National Report:
Para 12) [The Elections Act] was amended in 2014 to increase the proportion of women from 25 per cent to 30 per cent and to improve geographical and proportional representation in order to widen participation.

Para 69) The National Quarter-Century Strategy for 2007-2031 advocates the participation of women in a wholesale revival of society. One of the central elements of the Strategy is, in fact, the empowerment of women.

Para 70) The State's concern in this regard has led it to create various frameworks as well as seven official national mechanisms to empower women and promote their role in society.

Para 71) The national policy for the empowerment of women - which was adopted by the Council of Ministers in 2007 and has been used as a reference for the Constitution, national laws and regional and international treaties - has been updated for the period 2015-2016, with the help of development partners. Projects included in the policy aim to address issues such as education, health care, the environment, economic empowerment, human rights law, political participation and decision-making, and peace and conflict resolution. A detailed outline of a national policy to empower women has been proposed, incorporated into the second five-year plan (2012-2016) and sent out to districts and provinces.

UN Compilation:
Para 5) ... In 2015, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, was concerned by the discriminatory interpretation and implementation of provisions of the Criminal Law Act, the Public Order Act and the Personal Status Act. The Special Rapporteur noted that over 26 laws, including the Personal Status Act, contained provisions that were discriminatory towards women. Proposed changes at the federal level included: an amendment to the minimum age of marriage; the harmonization of domestic substantive and procedural laws with international human rights standards; and the ratification of CEDAW and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 10) JS2 noted Sudan did not accept previous recommendations to reform NSSA (2010) and did not amend its laws on marriage, custody, divorce, property rights, and indecency in compliance with international human rights law and as previously accepted recommendation.

Para 48) JS1 noted that in the first cycle Sudan accepted recommendations on gender equality and women's equal rights, and on steps to amend/repeal all discriminatory provisions in the Sudanese Nationality Act of 1994. However, children can only acquire citizenship from their Sudanese mothers through an application process, whereas children of Sudanese fathers acquire Sudanese citizenship automatically.

National Report:
Para 22) Sudan is in the process of ratifying the following instruments: • CEDAW (1979);

National Report:
Para 19) The Government has continued to develop strategies, plans and programmes, which it is seeking to roll out. They include: … Standard national operating procedures for the prevention of gender-based violence 2020;
Para 24) The State has continued to reform and develop domestic legislation by amending existing provisions or passing new ones, in line with obligations arising from international instruments and with a view to promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms. Since the submission of its second report, the State has issued the Constitutional Document for the transitional period in addition to a number of pieces of legislation, as follows: … (b) … • Criminalizing and punishing the practice of female genital mutilation (art. 141 (a) of the Criminal Code);
… (c) The process of legislative reform also envisages the review and enactment or a number of bills: … • Bill to combat domestic violence;
Para 77) The State has developed its national strategy to combat violence against women 2015– 2030.
Para 80) On 17 February 2020, a document was approved containing unified standard working procedures to address and respond to cases of gender-based violence in Sudan.
Para 81) The Unit to Combat Violence against Women has been created, with support from UNFPA. The Unit, which acts as a coordinating mechanism for the implementation of policies intended to prevent anti-female violence, has been running a hotline for women who have suffered violence during the COVID-19 pandemic. Family and child units in the capital city and in the states also work to combat violence against girls. They include the General Directorate for Women and the Family, the Unit to Combat Violence against Women (which has 18 branches in the capital and in the states), state-level women’s mechanisms and sectoral ministries. Moreover, there are women and family affairs departments in a number of ministries and government institutions, including in their offices at the state level.
Para 82) With a view to ensuring the provision of integrated health services for women and girls who are victims of sexual violence, the Public Prosecutor issued circular No. 6 of 2016 under which women who have suffered violence or serious abuse are to be given priority access to immediate treatment and assistance. Under the order, such cases are given precedence over other cases and are not required to fulfil the requirements of schedule 8 before gaining access to testing, treatment or assistance. They also have the right to pursue legal action on the basis of the medical report, leading to the punishment of the offenders and compensation for the victim.
Para 84) Family and child protection units, which incorporate specialized prosecution offices, have been set up in all states of Sudan.
Para 85) In recognition of the efforts the Government has made in this connection, in February 2019 UNESCO awarded its Prize in Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts to the National Council for Child Welfare for the success of the Saleema initiative to end female genital mutilation.
Para 89) Social support is being provided to midwives and they are being given their own projects to run in order to improve their income and encourage them to abandon harmful traditional practices.
Para 93) In order to raise the general level of awareness among security services and the judiciary regarding domestic and sexual violence and female genital mutilation, security and judicial officials have received training, both in Sudan and abroad, on the subject of violence against women and children.
Para 94) (e) Female genital mutilation has been made a criminal offence under article 141 (a) of the Criminal Code as amended in 2020, and the Personal Status Act is being reviewed to bring it into line with international standards concerning age of marriage; (f) A strategy to end female genital mutilation 2021–2030 has been drafted and is currently in the final stages of approval, and a proposal has been made to include that issue in the school curriculum.
Para 99) In its efforts to pursue the effective implementation of legislative measures intended to combat violence against women and children, the State has taken steps to protect women and girls, particularly those with disabilities. In terms of legislation, the Criminal Code envisages penalties for crimes, such as sexual harassment, that fall under the definition of violence against women, while the 2014 Anti-Human Trafficking Act, as amended in 2021, envisages harsher penalties for trafficking when the victims are women, children or persons with disabilities.
Para 101) … Moreover, in order to promote gender equality and to empower women and girls with disabilities and help them exercise their human rights, the protection of women with disabilities has been included in the raft of integrated policies envisaged under the national strategy to combat violence against women.

UN Compilation:
Para 47) The United Nations country team noted that gender-based violence remained hugely underreported and was a critical concern in the Sudan both in humanitarian and conflict settings, exacerbated by the exit of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur.
Para 48) The United Nations country team noted that, despite the recent adoption by the Sudan of a law criminalizing female genital mutilation, the prevalence of that harmful practice was alarming, with over 80 per cent of women nationwide subjected to it, reaching around 90 per cent in 7 of the 18 Sudanese states.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 70) JS22 noted that, because of the political and economic situation, violence against women and girls, and gender disparities have exacerbated to an extent that required urgent and comprehensive measures to address the problem as a national crisis. JS22 noted the launch of a hotline for domestic and gender-based violence as a positive step …
Para 71) The Helena Kennedy Centre for international Justice noted that Sudan has one of the highest rates of FGM in the world: It is reported that 88% of women aged 15-49 have been cut.

National Report:
Para 24) The State has continued to reform and develop domestic legislation by amending existing provisions or passing new ones, in line with obligations arising from international instruments and with a view to promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms. Since the submission of its second report, the State has issued the Constitutional Document for the transitional period in addition to a number of pieces of legislation, as follows: … (b) … • Criminalizing and punishing the practice of female genital mutilation (art. 141 (a) of the Criminal Code);
Para 85) In recognition of the efforts the Government has made in this connection, in February 2019 UNESCO awarded its Prize in Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts to the National Council for Child Welfare for the success of the Saleema initiative to end female genital mutilation.
Para 89) Social support is being provided to midwives and they are being given their own projects to run in order to improve their income and encourage them to abandon harmful traditional practices.
Para 93) In order to raise the general level of awareness among security services and the judiciary regarding domestic and sexual violence and female genital mutilation, security and judicial officials have received training, both in Sudan and abroad, on the subject of violence against women and children.
Para 94) (e) Female genital mutilation has been made a criminal offence under article 141 (a) of the Criminal Code as amended in 2020, and the Personal Status Act is being reviewed to bring it into line with international standards concerning age of marriage; (f) A strategy to end female genital mutilation 2021–2030 has been drafted and is currently in the final stages of approval, and a proposal has been made to include that issue in the school curriculum.

UN Compilation:
Para 48) The United Nations country team noted that, despite the recent adoption by the Sudan of a law criminalizing female genital mutilation, the prevalence of that harmful practice was alarming, with over 80 per cent of women nationwide subjected to it, reaching around 90 per cent in 7 of the 18 Sudanese states.

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 71) The Helena Kennedy Centre for international Justice noted that Sudan has one of the highest rates of FGM in the world: It is reported that 88% of women aged 15-49 have been cut.

National Report:
Para 22) Sudan is in the process of ratifying the following instruments: • CEDAW (1979);

National Report:
Para 94) (c) The State has adopted a national strategy to prevent child marriage, which is part of its national strategy for children 2018–2030. In addition to this, a national action plan to end child marriage in Sudan, rolled out in November 2017, has been updated for the period 2021–2031. The plan uses as its baseline a regional assessment of child marriage conducted by UNICEF in 2016; (d) A bill to combat violence against women has been drafted, which includes provisions prohibiting early marriage. In addition, a ministerial committee has been set up to review legislation and laws on women and to address any loopholes;

Stakeholder Summary:
Para 78) The Helena Kennedy Centre for international Justice noted that most women are married young, with the legal age for marriage being 10 years old, when a girl is tamyeez (Mature), with the permission of an elder. In a survey undertaken by Dabanga, it was reported that a third of the female population in Sudan aged between 20 and 24 were married by the age of 18, despite having ratified the CRC.