Women between the law and tradition in Sudan

Hikma Ahmed will discuss her work with the Aid Centre for Legal Consultations and Advocacy (ACAL) in Khartoum, Sudan, focusing on the legal situation of female prisoners in the context of the general human rights situation in Sudan. She will talk about the legal interventions ACAL has made, focusing on particular case studies.

Hikma Ahmed is a Sudanese human rights lawyer and founder of the Aid Centre for Legal Consultations and Advocacy in Khartoum, Sudan.

ACAL provides legal aid to needy people in Khartoum through targeting Sudanese prisons, particularly women in prisons and child reformatories, as well as refugee women and internally displaced people (IDPs) from war zones such as Darfur, Nuba Mountains, and South Sudan.

Hikma works on different cases, including the death penalty, stoning, demonstration cases, violence against women (VAW) and children in conflict with the law.

Before establishing ACAL Hikma worked as a human rights protection officer in the Sudan Social Development Organization (SUDO), and as a programme officer with Nahad for the Development of Women and Children, in Nyala, South Darfur.

Hikma is currently a visiting fellow under the auspices of the Centre for Applied Human Rights' Protective Fellowship for Human Rights Defenders at Risk.