Narrating Feminism: The Woman Question in the Thinking of an African Radical

Fatima Ahmed Ibrahim is one of the most noted Sudanese feminists alive. She has been the president of the Sudanese Woman's Union since 1956. Her focus has been on the traditional oppressive nature of her culture and what effects it has had on the potential agency of Sudanese women. She has dedicated a lot of research and time to the colonial impact on her culture and its contributions to the subjugation and suppression of Sudanese women. In her book Our Path to Emancipation she goes into detail about the human rights abuses inflicted on her people by the British. The abuse kept women from achieving any social mobility or opportunities to participate in the politics of Sudanese government. They were forced to stay home and remain isolated from society in the name of preserving culture and tradition. This exploitation was approved through these ideological lenses.Thousands of Sudanese lost their lives in anti-colonial uprisings all over the country. The colonial armies suppressed any anti colonial uprisings or sentiments and enforced harsh penalties to those who expressed them. This was justified under the guise of "modernity" and "civilizing". Colonialism led the people of Sudan to believe they were capable of doing nothing but farming and agriculture so that they could remove wealth and all the natural resources for themselves, taking control over all the reaping benefits of the agricultural industry in Sudan. The policies Britain enforced made it impossible for the Sudanese to break out of the mold that had been set for them to remain a source of cheap labor. The British also promoted unequal development which led to the eventual disparities in the economy and cultural clashes that followed and ultimately caused the current crisis in Darfur. Britain's neglect of southern Sudan put ethno religious violence into action just after Sudan received independence.
For seventy five years of "progressive implementations of modernity and civilization" of British rule education was limited, especially for girls. Because of the limited amount of doctors women were treated by untrained midwives and would then fall prey to superstitious beliefs and rituals.

Two pioneering women, Dr. Khalda Zahir and Fatima Talib, established the Women's League in 1947, which ultimately sowed the seeds of women's organizing for change. Education was considered the backbone of change for woman. British colonial forces tried to set up oppositions to the Women's League by using its excuses of upholding culture and tradition. In 1952, the Sudanese Women Union was formed ( SWU) . This organization pushed the agenda of unionizing for working women which the Muslim church publicly opposed due to their fear that unionizing would corrupt the women's morals. The British colonists tried to counteract by organizing rich women of Sudan in another group that opposed the issues that the SWU were pushing. This group of rich women did not deal with poverty or subjugation of woman. Ibrahim discusses the sabotage from the colonialist government that the SWU received because of the unique transformation of women's consciousness that was taking place because of the issues they explored. They had branches all over the country, in villages and all across the southern region.These branches in rural areas allowed women who were isolated within the home to be reached.

Eventually they published the Woman's Voice Magazine which spoke about real women's issues and brought them to the international stage. It also revealed the hold that Islam had on oppressing woman within Sudan. They begin to offer classes and training courses from their headquarters in the urban area of Khartoum. After a successful campaign the leaders started to realize that they were not reaching the whole of Sudanese women, the poor isolated women that needed to be a part of the classes and education programs the most but were unable to make it due to lack of transportation. These issues are still being dealt with.

The SWU works to gather information and stories of women in Darfur and sends this information to international organizations who can provide help. Currently the SWU is technically banned from working in Sudan.

http://www.interpares.ca/en/publications/bulletins/2007/June-2007-Eng.pdf