A court in Sudan has sentenced a 20-year-old woman to be stoned to death for alleged adultery.
The judgment comes as violence toward girls and women soars in the wake of last year’s military coup.
Civil society and human rights groups in Sudan and beyond have called for the abolition of the obligatory sentence of stoning to death under the 1991 Sudan Criminal Act.
The young woman’s trial, which did not meet recognized international standards, took place in Kosti city, White Nile State in July. Human rights advocates say accusations of adultery and blasphemy are often motivated by revenge, rather than based on fact.
The previous Islamist regime of Field Marshall Omar Bashir was overthrown in 2019. Democracy activists hoped Sudan’s penal code would be reformed in line with international standards and conventions.
However, a coup in October 2021 put the military and Islamist traditionalists back in effective control. Consequently, there has been a climate of impunity for those attacking women and girls challenging traditional roles by leaving their homes to go to school or work, or to be involved in civil society.
Until recently, rape victims could be charged with adultery: in 2014, a woman in Sudan was convicted of committing indecent acts after being gang raped, apparently because the act of reporting the rape was considered proof of her sin.