Lubna Hussein Wears the Pants; Forcibly Freed from Jail

This article in Foreign Policy is a must-read for all those determined to obtain equal rights for women throughout the world. In covering Lubna Hussein’s trial for wearing pants and her sentencing, Bec Hamilton writes:

Trying to save face, the court played it both ways. The judge decided Lubna was guilty under Article 152 of Sudan's so-called indecency laws -- a nod to the government, which maintains that the law is just and that Lubna simply fell afoul of it. But the court decided to fine her 500 Sudanese pounds (about $200) rather than flog her -- a nod to the sensitivities of the global media watching from outside the courtroom, where Lubna's domestic supporters were once again protesting.

Presumably the court hoped that Lubna, grateful to be spared flogging, would happily pay the fine and the world could move on. Case closed. That was a miscalculation.

I spoke to Lubna by phone shortly after the verdict was handed down and was not surprised when the first thing she said was that she had no intention of paying the fine. While most of the media coverage of her story to date has focused on the most sensational part of the case -- the possibility of her facing a public flogging -- for Lubna, her decision to take on the government was a challenge to the justness of Article 152 in its entirety. From Lubna's perspective, paying the fine would legitimate an illegitimate law.

I lost contact with Lubna last night after she was jailed for refusing to pay the fine. But having spoken to her earlier in the day, I knew that going to jail to continue her protest of a vaguely worded law that allows for the harassment of women was something she was perfectly prepared to do. Lubna had advised friends and family that she did not want anyone to pay the fine on her behalf.

From the perspective of the Sudanese government, this was not a satisfactory result. With the "trouser lady" now in jail, how could the global media move on? Enter Mohideen Totawi, head of the Sudanese Journalists' Association (SJA). Totawi paid Lubna's fine and this afternoon she was forcibly freed.

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