From white teyab to pink kandakat: gender and the 2018-2019 Sudanese revolution

This paper provides a gender analysis of the 2018-2019 Sudanese Revolution, its goals and outcomes, and the strategies employed by protestors and state security forces. To do so, it sheds a light on how protesters drew on, emphasised, and mobilised along gendered identities. It pays particular attention to the part women played in mobilisation efforts in the revolution and historic (dis)continuities of their role in mass mobilisation. An analysis of protest spaces brings to light the way gender roles were practiced and negotiated within the movement. Examining the state’s response to the demonstrations, the paper highlights state forces’ gender-specific strategies to intimidate protesters and their practice of sexual violence. Lastly, the analysis turns to the first months of political transition. Women’s important roles in the revolution and their challenging of traditional gender roles have not yet translated into equal political representation in the transition, although some of their human rights demands were being met in the context of the Transitional Government.

This paper was originally published by the Journal of Public and International Affairs.