Weekly News Post #25

#JusticeForNoura

Noura Hussein, was forced into marriage with her husband at 16 years old. Now, still in her teens, at 19 years old, she has been sentenced to death in Sudan. Hussein stabbed her husband to death after she claims he raped her, with the aid of assistance from his family. Hussein's death was sealed by the judge on the 10th of May, after the family of the husband rejected the possibility of financial compensation, and asked for her execution instead. Noura Hussein's legal team had 15 days to appeal the sentence once it was handed down.

After being married forcibly, Noura Hussein escaped to an aunts house for three years, before being tricked into returning to her husband by her family. Noura only lived with her partner for a total of six days in which her husband raped her whilst his brother, another relative, and a witness held her down. The following day, he attempted to do the same, to which Hussein instead Hussein stabbed him, and went to her parents; they then handed her over to the police. The case has attracted people's attention on social media, where '#JusticeForNoura' has trended on Twitter, and a petition to save her life has been created and got over 270,000 signs so far (as of 13th May). The outcry on Twitter has seen people defending Noura as she was only defending herself from rape.

Currently, section 247 of the Penal Code Act excluded coerced marital sex from the definition of rape, thus meaning marital rape isn't a punishable crime in Sudan, and therefore technically Hussein's husband didn't do anything wrong in the eyes of the law, and Noura's punishment is fit for the situation.

There is almost no data published about the statistics of rape and sexual violence in Sudan, but according to various sources online, the figures are high. Relating back to the fact that Noura was only 16 when she was forced into marriage, Sudan's laws state Personal Status Law of Muslims 1991, says that a 10 year old child can be married by their guardian with the permission of a judge. According to Girls Not Brides, the child marriage rate for Sudan is 34% (married before the age of 18); the UN also notes that one in three women are married before the age of 18.

The article posted by the Guardian, represents Noura Hussein positively, with multiple quotes from Hussein herself, and from her supporters. The article also includes a link to the petition to help Noura. The article takes a more gentle approach to the matter, unlike some other articles. The article posted by the Sun, takes a more blunt approach. The article doesn't provide any quotes from Hussein or her supporters and represents her in a more negative way through the use of calling her "terrified" and using the phrase "against her father's wishes" when mentioning she escaped to her aunts house due to the marriage. The different approaches to the case could be due to the different views and political standings the two Newspapers have; The Guardian is more left-wing, and the Sun is more right-wing.

In my opinion, Noura's punishment is ridicously extreme; she shouldn't have been punished for defending herself, considering her claims are true. Whilst I disagree with taking someone's life, taking into consideration Noura's ordeal and situation as told by her, she did what she had to, in order to protect herself. Hussein's situation is extremely unfortunate as whilst she, and those in other countries see her as a victim of sexual assault and rape, due to Sudan's laws, she's not a victim just a murderer; and this is wrong. Sudan needs to revisit the laws and bring the country into the present, where women have rights and have the right not to be raped or sexually assaulted.


Reference;
Beaumont, Peter. (2018). Teenager who killed husband after he raped her is sentenced to death in Sudan. Available: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/may/10/teenager-who-killed-her-husband-after-he-raped-her-is-sentenced-to-death-in-sudan-noura-hussein. Last accessed 13th May 2018.