Women do not protest to be fetishised – their bravery should be better supported

Prominent female demonstrators see their image spawn a thousand articles, but our encouragement should not end at one image of defiance

There is a kind of unhelpful fetishisation when the world obsesses over the presence of women in protests and revolutions.

The incredulity at the fact females are also angry and brave enough to take to the streets, is ratcheted up five notches when those movements take place in the Middle East and north Africa: a region where the west assumes all women are so downtrodden, they cannot leave their bedrooms.

Cameras inevitably contribute, capturing moments that spawn hundreds of articles anchored in the patronising notion that women participating in anything political is always an exception.

Whether it’s the red dress woman in Taksim Square, the blue bra girl in Tahrir Square, or most recently the woman in white in Khartoum, these images become iconic for good reason.

These women are fierce. They should be lauded. But over the years female rights activists in the region have complained that a lot of that well-meaning focus is unhelpfully and sometimes creepily directed.

For example, so much ink was spilled over what Alaa Salah – “Sudan’s woman in white” – was wearing. The New York Times’ fashion director even wrote an article dissecting her decision to pair traditional wedding earrings with Sudan’s white cloth uniform of professional women.

And so, the image of Alaa swathed in white, standing on a car, one armed raised, addressing the crowd, became a symbol of the oversimplified “success” story of women in the revolution against Omar al-Bashir’s brutal Islamist regime. With little nuance or thought, commentators declared victory in the battle against centuries of oppression. It was too early.

There was a neat string of “wins” that followed. Of the 11-member ruling military and civilian sovereign council, two are women. Of the 18-member post-revolution cabinet, four are women, including a female foreign minister. The upcoming parliament will include a 40 per cent quota for female MPs. One of the first pieces of legislation to be cancelled by the new government was the oppressive public order law which allowed police to flog women for wearing trousers.

While these are positive developments, Sudanese women told me this was just the beginning of an incredibly long and tough battle to change an entire system, an ethos built and bolstered by the former Islamist regime.

To declare victory now is to say the greatest achievement female protesters can expect is just taking part in a moment of change. It is to say they should cherish crumbs thrown to them in thanks for their participation.

Huda Shafig, a Sudanese women’s right activist and gender specialist, said for a start the representation of women in the post-revolution authorities was not enough. She said they had to fight for the 40 per cent quota, which still isn’t fair.

“We actually put together a database of women specialised in each different sector, so when the ministers of the cabinet were formed, we submitted candidates for each ministry with full CVs. Yet still we only have four ministers,” she told me.

“Assigning women to these top positions is a step forward but we are not being fairly represented.”

While ditching the public order law was a watershed moment there are still articles within criminal law dictating women’s dress code and behaviour. Meanwhile, the public order police still exist as do their dedicated courts.

“Under Sudan’s criminal law women can be married from the age of 10, but here is no legislation criminalising female genital mutilation,” Shafig continued.

“The personal status and family laws means marriage and divorce is very discriminatory against women, And that’s just the law. There are policies which deny women equal access to jobs, to academic degrees, in general,” she added.

These grievances were echoed by Najla Noreen, 36, a women’s rights activist who was threatened by the security forces when she opened up an official complaint against a police officer who allegedly sexually assaulted her at a checkpoint during the revolution.

She said while there had been major achievements, the biggest battle was changing the “conservative mentality of Sudan” that would require deep reform of institutions like the police.

“Even if they allege they are revolutionaries and change seekers they only go so far,” she said. “Our representation in the government should be according to the sacrifices of the women made. It’s not fair, women were targeted by rape, beatings and killings.”

She said a pertinent example of how mindsets have still not altered was when one of Sudan’s influential clerics accused the new sports minister, Wala’a Essam al-Boushi​, of apostasy because she introduced a women’s football team. She is currently suing him.

Changing laws is comparatively simple, changing attitudes is not. One image of defiance cannot be the beginning and end of the story, or of our support.