Localizing Transnationalism: A Struggle for Women’s Employment Rights a Narrative from Sudan

Under the banner of protecting Sudanese culture and religion from the West , the Islamic government in Sudan represented by the Governor of Khartoum issued the Decree Number 84 for the year 2000 on September 4th, 2000 in which he banned women’s work in gas stations, restaurants, and hotels. Women’s employment rights that were accomplished in the 1950s were endangered. This paper engaged with the narratives of the Sudanese women who struggled against this decision. These women used and adapted the International UN documents and utilized their transnational ties in support of their cause. Their transnational campaign succeeded in getting the international condemnation by Human Rights Watch to this Decree on September 8, 2000 and it was put on hold by the Constitutional court in Khartoum. I argue that this historical struggle of women in Sudan highlights the importance of considering the local context as a site of knowledge production that is capable of supporting women’s transnational resistance worldwide.