Op-ed: Sudanese women give birth to life twice

By Dr Elshafie Khidir Saeid

Each year, on International Women’s Day, the world pauses to celebrate women and the life they nurture and sustain. Yet in Sudan, for the third consecutive year since the country was engulfed in the flames of war on April 15, 2023, this day arrives under the shadow of devastation. The occasion therefore acquires a different meaning. Rather than a moment of ceremonial celebration, it becomes an invitation to reflect on the extraordinary resilience of Sudanese women—women whose bodies have too often been turned into arenas of conflict, yet whose spirits continue to stand as symbols of defiance and endurance.

The story of Sudanese women today cannot be separated from their long history of struggle against marginalization and exclusion. For decades, they have resisted attempts to erase their identity, confine their role, or push them to the margins of public life. In the recent past, Sudanese women were central to the movement that challenged the rule of the National Congress Party, exposing the bankruptcy of its ideological project. During the Sudanese Revolution, they stood in the front lines, confronting the security forces of Omar al-Bashir with remarkable courage. Their chants—most memorably, “Our revolution is female”—captured a profound aspiration for a democratic civil state grounded in equality, dignity, and justice.

Those aspirations have not disappeared, even as the current war has cast a dark shadow over the country. The same women who filled Sudan’s streets demanding freedom, peace, and justice are now among the most determined voices calling for an end to the war and the restoration of civilian politics. They reject the militarization of society and insist that peace cannot simply mean the redistribution of power among competing elites—whether armed or civilian. Rather, peace must entail democratic transformation, accountability for crimes committed, transitional justice for victims, and the reconstruction of a state founded upon equal citizenship.

In the midst of war, Sudanese women have assumed roles that extend far beyond the private sphere. Faced with the collapse of institutions and the disintegration of basic services, they have emerged as organizers, caregivers, and community leaders. Working alongside youth networks and civil society groups, women have helped sustain local initiatives, expand the networks of Emergency Response Rooms, coordinate grassroots relief campaigns, document violations, and keep alive the fragile infrastructure of solidarity that allows communities to endure.

Yet Sudanese women have also borne the heaviest burdens of the conflict. War multiplies vulnerability, and women often stand at its most perilous intersection. They face displacement, economic hardship, and the constant threat of violence. Among the gravest of these violations is sexual violence, which has been used as a deliberate weapon of war. Human rights organizations have documented cases of mass rape committed by the Rapid Support Forces in areas under their control. This is not just rape per say, but a “Rape Strategy” aimed at terrorizing communities and forcing them to flee.

Such brutality did not emerge in a vacuum. It is rooted in decades of political and social practices that normalized the control and humiliation of women’s bodies. During the years of the Inqaz Regime, institutional repression and rigid moral codes subjected women to routine surveillance and punishment. The Public Order Law, for example, functioned as a daily mechanism of control, allowing authorities to flog women under the pretext of improper dress or behavior. These policies were accompanied by broader patterns of economic marginalization that forced many women into precarious livelihoods, exposing them to harassment and exploitation.

The present war has intensified these vulnerabilities. Millions of Sudanese women have been displaced within the country or forced to seek refuge in neighboring states. In overcrowded shelters and makeshift camps, the absence of adequate healthcare and the harshness of daily survival create new forms of suffering. Even the act of giving birth—normally a moment of hope—can become a perilous ordeal in conditions lacking the most basic medical care.

And yet, despite this catalogue of hardships, Sudanese women continue to demonstrate extraordinary resilience. Their perseverance represents more than mere endurance; it is a form of what social scientists describe as “everyday resistance.” In countless ways—large and small—they sustain families, rebuild communities, and preserve the possibility of a different future.

Indeed, Sudanese women have never been merely passive victims of history. They are thinkers, organizers, and creators whose contributions have shaped the nation’s political and social life. In times of peace they nurture the foundations of society; in times of war they become guardians of its very survival. If war attempts to turn their bodies into instruments of destruction, they transform those same bodies into fortresses of resistance—armed with patience, resilience, and the stubborn persistence of hope. In this sense, the Sudanese woman truly gives birth to life twice: once in times of peace, and again in times of war.

For this reason, commemorating International Women’s Day in Sudan today must go beyond symbolic gestures. It must prompt a serious reflection on how women can be protected in times of conflict and how their voices can be meaningfully integrated into negotiations and decision-making processes. The empowerment of women in conflict situations is not a matter of moral generosity; it is a practical necessity for building durable peace.

Global experience demonstrates that peace processes excluding women tend to remain fragile and incomplete. Sudan will be no exception. Any negotiation aimed at ending the current war must include women not as symbolic participants but as substantive actors with clear priorities: the safe return of displaced populations, justice and compensation for victims, and guarantees that the crimes of the present will never be repeated. Because they have suffered the most from the war, women are also among the most committed to ending it. Their voices carry the authority of lived experience and the moral clarity of those who seek life rather than power. In negotiations, their presence can help dismantle the language of hatred and open pathways toward reconciliation.

On this International Women’s Day, we stand in admiration of the Sudanese woman who continues to write her history not with tears but with courage, memory, and unyielding determination. When asked about her dream, the Sudanese woman answer is disarmingly simple: “that the war should end, that she may return to her home, that her children may come back from the graves, and that the Hibiscus tree may bloom once again”.