For weeks, the WMC has been following the events surrounding journalist Lubna al-Hussein, who was arrested, along with twelve other women in Sudan, for wearing trousers in public. She faces public flogging as punishment for her “crime.”
On July 13, the WMC included a piece in our news brief about the breaking story, from BBC:
Several Sudanese women have been flogged as a punishment for dressing “indecently”, according to a local journalist who was arrested with them.
Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein, who says she is facing 40 lashes, said she and 12 other women wearing trousers were arrested in a restaurant in the capital, Khartoum.
On July 31, we included a piece from Radio Free Europe as our top international story in our news brief, which explained that Lubna would resign from her UN position, therefore declining the immunity her status as a UN employee would grant her, in order to fight to overturn Sudan’s “decency” laws:
She has told the media that she hopes not just to avoid the usual flogging for “indecency” but also to remove clothing regulations from Sudan’s legal code. The regulations currently appear as part of prohibitions against “indecent acts.”
“This is not a case about me wearing pants,” she told the Associated Press. “This is a case about annulling the article that addresses women’s dress code…. This article is against the constitution and even against Islamic law itself.”
On August 3rd, we included a piece in our news brief in which Lubna declared, “I’m ready for anything to happen. I’m absolutely not afraid of the verdict.” And most recently, on August 5, with news that Lubna’s trial was adjourned until September 7, we included an AP story in our news brief about the violent police response women protesters encountered.
As we have been following the situation closely, and keeping our followers updated as events progressed through our news briefs, it came as a surprise to read a recent piece in the Independent, in which Susie Mesure lambasted American feminist organizations for being silent on the issue:
Apparently it’s [the International Sisterhood] too busy worrying about whether lads’ mags such as Nuts and Loaded are degrading to women (yes) or if pictures of impossibly skinny models dent a woman’s self-confidence (need I answer?). Or if women are misrepresented in adland as bloated, constipated, greying airheads overwhelmed by laundry.
While we don’t believe the degradation of women in “lads’ mags” and women’s body image issues somehow don’t deserve attention, we also, very obviously, agree that Lubna al-Hussein’s trial deserves media attention. And so the WMC again stands in solidarity and support of Lubna al-Hussein, and we ask you to do the same. We encourage everyone to sign the Arab Women Connection Network’s petition, which looks to “stop this trial that violates all international treaties defending freedom of expression and women’s rights.”
Subscribe 
3 Comments
Hi Kate,
I, too, have been very critical of American women not standing up for Lubna. Overall, we’ve been very quiet, and I document my own arguments in my writing.
Lubna and Amal and 152 have their own channel now:
http://www.anneofcarversville.com/women-of-sudan/
I, too, been frustrated not getting credit for opening my mouth on Lubna, so I understand your frustration. My daily writing was all over Google, which added to the insult.
In the case of WMC, today’s post was the first Google alert that I received from you. I follow them all. And if you’re in Google search, I’ve missed you. Wordpress is known for having great SEO, so I don’t understand why I haven’t seen you until now. Clearly, you’ve been writing about Lubna.
The awesome, inspiring Hussein was prevented from leaving the country last evening, headed for an interview in Beirut.
On my end, I’ve opened an entire channel at Anne of Carversville devoted to Intl Women’s Rights. Posting today about women in the Congo, I am sick to my stomach.
I’ll add you to the links in the Intl Women’s Rights Channel.
Peace, Anne
Kate,
The issue of “lack of coverage” is a bit more complex than Mesure frames it, and it should be addressed as such.
Anyone with a recent memory of the war on Afghanistan remembers that many Western feminists either shamefully jumped on the war bandwagon, or were suspiciously silent on the issue of women’s oppression as it was being used as a rationalization tool by the Bush administration. This is not cultural relativism, this is reality.
Again, what Sesure simplistically labels as culturally relativistic, is not that simple. There IS a problem, in my opinion with “western feminists” creating a binary where the more “serious” women’s oppression is always located outside our borders in countries “less developed”, or “more primitive” than our own.
What about the serious issues afflicting women in the “western world”? It’s not between covering white middle class women’s issues vs talking about islamic oppression of women. This makes it seem like western women are too busy dealing with their trivial problems while the seriously oppression of women goes ignored abroad. Why doesn’t Sesure rail against feminists being silent on women of color IN THE U.S./GB dying of treatable illnesses in shameful proportions? Or the danger of women of color being imprisoned in greater numbers than ever before? Where are the british sisters rallying for better wages for the undocumented immigrant women working as their nannies (oh yeah cuz they need to be liberated out of the workforce). Why arent the substandard working conditions in sweatshops in southern california where women toil to eke out meager existence while living in fear of ICE– a cause celebre for feminists??
These issues are routinely ignored by “international” feminists, who are quick to find the most obvious “cause celebre” instances of “womens oppression”, while they often remain blind to the injustices of their black brown and yellow sisters at home.
Furthermore, Sesure should be a little less heavy handed about calling for sanctions against Sudan. Sudan is already being targeted by Washington, obstensibly for its crimes in Darfur–however, its silence on similar crimes occuring in other parts of the region indicates the outcry over Darfur is more politically motivated by a desire to control Sudan’s vast oil resources. How is imposing economic sanctions on an already struggling nation supposed to empower women?
I am too sudanesse and i do support my sister Lubna – It is our responsiblities to fight for our rights us women in sudan. Our rights to have a decent life as humanbeing and not as slave – this time is passed