Human Rights Watch condemned the ban imposed on September 3, 2000, by the Governor of the State of Khartoum and former minister of social planning, Mr. Mazjoub al-Khalifa, that prevents women from working in public places where they come into direct contact with men.
"It's outrageous that the governor wants to prevent women from doing work they have done for decades, just because they are women," said Regan Ralph, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch's Women's Rights Division. "It is a violation of women's rights to equality and to work."
The decree bars women from working in hotels, restaurants, and gas stations. The governor justified the ban as "intended to honor women," to uphold their status in line with Islamic law, and to respect the values and the traditions of the nation. He asserted that women should not be harmed by this decree because they could be employed in other areas.
According to local sources, Shell Oil recently started employing women in service stations. Some have speculated that this provoked a backlash, and that the order was targeted at women working in these stations. The order itself, however, goes beyond this. Women are banned from working in cafeterias, at cash registers, and anywhere in the service sector.
The government of Sudan has pledged to uphold women's equality by acceding to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. "This ban defies guarantees of equality embedded in Article 21 of the Sudanese constitution and in international human rights law," said Ralph.
Some Sudanese activists have expressed their fear that the decree is a prelude to removing women from all fields of public work. After years of civil war, many women are the sole providers for their families and rely on their income, even if the jobs are low-paying. The measure may also mean hardship for employers, who are required to fire women who turn up at work. Some employers have stated that they will have to shut down if women employees are not allowed to work.
Human Rights Watch calls on the President of Sudan, the Foreign Minister, and the Governor of the State of Khartoum to overturn the ban. The international monitoring organization also called on all employers, including foreign companies, whose female employees will be affected by this law to privately and publicly protest this ban.
