Content warning: This article discusses sex, drug use and other sensitive topics.
Gender stereotypes exist across the world and can significantly affect many aspects of life, restricting personal choices, educational opportunities and career advancement. Organisations such as the United Nations Human Rights Office highlight how harmful stereotypes can undermine human rights and reinforce wage gaps and social inequalities.
These stereotypes have long shaped women’s lives. Women are often perceived as overly emotional, naturally nurturing or passive, while men are stereotyped as logical, stoic, dominant or aggressive. Such assumptions can influence career choices and opportunities, with women often steered towards caregiving and administrative roles, such as nursing, teaching and secretarial work, while men are encouraged to pursue leadership positions, engineering and technical trades. Within the home, household responsibilities and childcare are disproportionately expected to fall on women, while men are often viewed primarily as financial providers.
These expectations also influence how women navigate social spaces, the responsibilities they are expected to take on, and the choices they feel able to make. Over time, gender stereotypes can limit women’s freedom to pursue their ambitions and challenge traditional gender roles.
In Sudan, these gender stereotypes remain prevalent to this day.
The inequality becomes particularly evident when people make mistakes or act in ways that go against societal norms. Women often face harsher social judgement and condemnation than men for the same behaviour. In a conservative Muslim country such as Sudan, certain behaviours are considered forbidden or unacceptable, including immodest dress, gender-nonconforming clothing, premarital sex and the use of intoxicating substances and drugs. People are expected to abide by religious, social and legal rules, yet the consequences of breaking these norms are not always equal.
Men may be forgiven or allowed to move on from their mistakes, while women can face lasting stigma and condemnation. For example, when a man and a woman are caught engaging in sexual relations outside marriage, the man may face less severe social consequences, while the woman bears the weight of the stigma. Rather than being allowed to move on, women can find themselves labelled and judged for their actions for years to come.
Why is this the case? There are several reasons why women face greater social scrutiny than men. As discussed earlier in this article, women are often stereotyped as overly emotional, naturally nurturing or passive. I also believe women are judged more harshly because they are perceived as weak or lacking self-control, making them more vulnerable to social condemnation. The irony is that, despite being viewed this way, women are also held to exceptionally high moral standards, leaving little room for mistakes.
This expectation is rooted in the belief that women, as nurturers, are responsible for upholding morality within their families, communities and society at large. While men are often recognised for their leadership, women are frequently expected to bear the responsibility of preserving society’s moral values.
Not Her Mistake, But Blamed for It
Women in Sudan also face greater social condemnation than men, even in circumstances beyond their control.
Divorced women, for example, are often judged more harshly than divorced men and face significant stigma. As a result, they may encounter greater challenges when seeking to remarry, particularly if they have children.
The double standard is even more troubling when women experience sexual harassment, assault or rape. Even though their bodies have been violated and a crime has been committed against them, they are often the ones blamed. As in many other societies, people question their clothing, mannerisms and behaviour, as though any of these could justify what happened to them. A man overpowers a woman and forces himself on her, yet she is held responsible? It is unfathomable.
The consequences can extend far beyond the initial trauma. Women may be shunned by their communities, treated as though they are ‘damaged goods’ or considered untouchable, while the men who harmed them may face little or no social accountability. The woman is left to carry the stigma of a violation she did not choose and for which she bears no blame.
An Unjust Society, An Unjust Law System
The same attitudes that lead society to blame women are often reflected in a country’s legal and political systems.
Until 2015, Sudan’s 1991 Criminal Act conflated rape with zina, or sexual relations outside marriage. This created serious risks for survivors, who could face accusations of adultery if they were unable to prove that sexual activity was non-consensual. In 2015, amendments to Article 149 separated the legal definition of rape from that of adultery and introduced a criminal offence of sexual harassment under Article 151. However, human rights organisations continued to highlight weaknesses in the legal framework and its implementation, including barriers that discouraged survivors from reporting sexual violence.
Marital rape is not explicitly criminalised under Sudanese law, and access to abortion remains highly restricted. Although abortion is legally permitted in certain circumstances, including pregnancy resulting from rape, survivors face a 90-day time limit and bureaucratic requirements, including obtaining medical and police records. These restrictions can make access difficult in practice.
Under former President Omar Al Bashir, public order laws were used to police women’s appearance and behaviour. Women were arrested and punished for conduct such as wearing trousers or clothing deemed immodest. In 2020, Sudan introduced legal reforms that abolished flogging for certain offences, including public indecency, but the punishment was not abolished for every crime
Will change come?
I believe meaningful equality for Sudanese women will remain difficult to achieve unless society confronts the gender stereotypes that shape how women are treated. Women should not be held to higher moral standards than men or face harsher consequences for the same behaviour. Laws alone cannot bring about this change; attitudes within families, communities and institutions must also evolve.
A broader social transformation is needed, one that recognises women and men as equals and allows both to make choices, pursue opportunities and take responsibility for their actions without being judged by unequal standards. Without such a shift, gender stereotypes will continue to restrict women’s freedom, opportunities and place in society.
Ola Diab is the new founder and editor of 500 Words Magazine, and the deputy editor of Marhaba Information Guide, Qatar’s premier information guide. Based in Qatar, the Sudanese journalist graduated from Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) in 2012 with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism and has since built a successful career in the print and digital media industry in Qatar. Find her on X (formerly Twitter) @therealoladiab or on LinkedIn.
