‘Noon Al Niswa’ – N is for the female collective: contesting androcentric power structures through grassroots women’s groups in Sudan

ABSTRACT

This article explores the constraints on women’s political participation in Sudan and the lack of a unified feminist agenda due to the performative involvement of elite female politicians. It focuses on the No to Women’s Oppression Initiative (NtoWRI), a civil society group that utilized both digital and traditional communication methods to advance a more inclusive women’s rights agenda. NtoWRI’s successful campaign for the ratification of CEDAW and the Maputo Protocol was attributed, in part, to the group’s radical inclusivity towards marginalized women. The involvement of grassroots women’s groups with the margins provides an opportunity for social justice, amplifying the voices of marginalized communities and linking their struggles to broader social movements. The article emphasizes the need to confront the male-dominated power structures in Sudan with a feminist perspective to establish a genuine feminist collective.

KEYWORDS:

• Feminist standpoint
• Sudan
• CEDAW
• mobilization
• gender
• resource mobilization theory

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

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Notes on contributors

Maha Bashri

Dr. Maha Bashri is an Associate Professor of Communication at the United Arab Emirates University. With a keen interest in social movements and new media, her research primarily delves into the politics of technology, digital literacy, and citizenship in the Global South.