Sudan: Women Sentenced To 20 Lashes For Wearing Pants

Sudan sentenced two women to 20 lashes and $110 each for wearing pants, Reuters reports. According to Sudanese law, the women committed an act of indecency by wearing trousers.

Indecency cases are not uncommon in Sudan, where there is a cultural gap between the mostly Muslim north and the south, dominated by Christians and followers of traditional beliefs.

Many women activists complain that Sudan's public-order regulations are vague and give individual police officers undue latitude to determine what is considered decent clothing for women

.

The two women were arrested after attending the same party as Lubna Hussein, a journalist whose similar arrest drew global attention.

Hussein told AFP: "This sentence shows that we are not equal before the judge... I will continue to fight this law."

Hussein refused to pay her fine last month and opted instead to go to prison, AFP reports. A journalists' union paid the amount, and she was released after a day.

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Comments

[GoDogGo]

04:13 PM on 10/25/2009

White after Labor Day, maybe. But pants?

[sysmgr1345]

08:59 AM on 10/25/2009

This is the year 2009 right?

[Horst]

09:34 AM on 10/25/2009

Not for the Shari'a crowd.....

[dancucich]

04:39 AM on 10/25/2009

You could say (or imply) that *all* religion is to
blame for women being whipped , or people being stoned,
beheaded, having hands amputated by a chainsaw,
for petty theft, receiving the the death penalty for converting to another religion
or being killed for "shaming the family" and not be a "comie".

But you would still be wrong. Because Islam is the only
religion that still holds to such practices in the 21st
century.

[mergina]

08:38 AM on 10/25/2009

ALL RELIGIONS are a filthy Abomination...NO EXCEPTIONS. They all spawn hatred, violence, inequality and death.

[duhtruth]

12:42 PM on 10/25/2009

Thank you for your kind and unbiased analysis. I will remember to wear my bullet-proof vest at my place of worship. Peace be with you.

[codergirl]

02:53 PM on 10/25/2009

you are so right

[unwashedmasses]

12:25 AM on 10/25/2009

Fine, as long as they do the same for men wearing 'dresses'!

[Horst]

09:33 AM on 10/25/2009

Those guys don't last long under Shari'a.......

[AlligatorShuz]

11:07 PM on 10/24/2009

I am so glad to be living in the United States of America where we have many freedoms...

[mergina]

08:39 AM on 10/25/2009

Try saying that if you are a woman.

[duhtruth]

12:45 PM on 10/25/2009

My wife did and found it harder than saying "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers" ten times. Interesting, you have a good point !

[winningticket]

10:31 AM on 10/25/2009

Try having MJ and then come back to me on this "freedom" thing.

[logicalchoice]

05:12 PM on 10/30/2009

Micheal Jackson?

[Horst]

07:18 PM on 10/24/2009

Muslim militias continue to murder thousands in the Sudan...whether this woman wears pants or not doesn't seem that important.

[janeycat]

10:50 PM on 10/24/2009

i would be willing to bet you my next months pay that she thinks it is inportant !!

i would say she almost feels like Rosa Parks right about now,sitting on the front seat of the bus.

and this woman deserves her rights be given to her OR she will fight for them.

her very life and the life of her daughters depend on it.

[riat]

06:22 PM on 10/24/2009

Well I think it 's extremely fortunate she wasn't wearing a "Wink if You Want it" Tee Shirt or Tank Top which are becoming inceasingly popular in NY.However if there are Sudanese women who want to push the envelope a little...for the fun of it.....I believe they can be purchased online at www.winkifyouwantit.com but you would have to check this out for yourself.

[WilliamL]

09:24 PM on 10/24/2009

please

[Gasparilla]

05:06 PM on 10/24/2009

Welcome to the 15th century.

[JerryLevy]

04:18 PM on 10/24/2009

This should be no surprise to anyone who understands how women are treated in the islamic world. Women were executed by the Taliban for refusing to wear burkas, women are not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia, hundreds of so called "honor killings" occur legally in supposedly secular Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. We have even had some honor killings against Islamic women by their families in the U.K. and here in the U.S.

[logicalchoice]

05:13 PM on 10/30/2009

Women are rap ed and sold in to slav ery while the men get a pat on the back. If they report crimes that happen to them they are arrested. its the same way the whites in the south treated their black slav es.

[ImissBush]

03:52 PM on 10/24/2009

isnt religion wonderful

[JerryLevy]

04:20 PM on 10/24/2009

You are trying to equate the brutal punishment of Islamic women living under an Islamic regime with all other religions. It is an equation that is meritless. Just ask Christian women in the U.S. or Jewish women in Israel, or Hindu women in India or Budhist women in Korea.

[ImissBush]

05:41 PM on 10/24/2009

u ask them
if ur wonderful religions
have ever done any of those things
& get back 2 me

[mergina]

08:41 AM on 10/25/2009

The Christian religion? Please. If it could get away with it, it would be as brutal and violent as religion is in Muslim lands, just as it was oh, say 1000 years ago. Women are treated a second class baby making machines by ALL MALE DOMINATED RELIGIONS.

[mergina]

10:59 AM on 10/24/2009

It is beyond tragic to think that such a large part of our world is inhabited by people that think and act this way. MISERABLE, CRUEL, BARBAROUS, HATEFUL way of life.

[themainpoint]

09:57 AM on 10/24/2009

The courts and prosecutors must have more important things they could be doing that would actually improve their society than worrying about the type of clothing women wear. They could start by repealing some of their laws.

[Paulo1]

09:24 AM on 10/24/2009

Oh, this is incredibly awkward. I wake up this morning and find myself somehow siding with the religious bigots in Sudan. Someone throw me some of Rush's drug stash till I get over it.

The dress code injunctions in Islam do not condemn any specific clothing but do condemn "immodest dress". Of course it is taken to the extreme in many countries. (Islam seems to have a penchant for taking morality to the extreme exceeded only by Christian wackos in the US)

In Sudan where the cultural dress code has never included the wearing of pants it seems rather scandalous to suddenly be flaunting a pair of paint on jeans showing. I think of the social consequences of girls wearing jeans to school when I was a child in the 60's and can somewhat understand. Such girls were mocked if not sent home with firm letters to their parents.

So I am not prone to my usual rant about the horrors of Islamic morality. Its not near as bad as they usually come up with and at least they are not lopping someones appendages off.

[Gasparilla]

05:05 PM on 10/24/2009

The Christian wackos do not control the government like those in Islamic countries do. Bogus comparison. And a "firm letter" is nothing compared to 20 lashes.

[MosheDayanHero]

11:21 PM on 10/24/2009

Saudi female TV journalist gets 60 lashes
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_saudi_flogging

What do Saudis and Sudanis have in common--religion.

[Whinger]

08:56 AM on 10/24/2009

A religious law put in place by men to protect weak minded men who can't control their lust!

Where would the world be without religion, war and conflicts would be on a global scale!

[bbaker2580]

05:58 AM on 10/24/2009

well, now we know who wears the pants in ....sudan