# **5. INFORMAL INSTITUTIONS: THE ROLE OF NORMS AND NETWORKS**

Sudan’s formal institutions do not operate independently of its informal institutions, which include, but are not limited to, beliefs about gender roles and relations, social norms, and social networks. This section begins with an examination of the impact of Sudan’s patriarchal customs on female youth’s and women’s ability to pursue education and employment outside the home. It then goes on to discuss the role that _wasta_ plays in enabling or inhibiting Sudanese women’s and youth’s access to the labor market, especially in the context of low levels of social capital and trust throughout society.

## **Customs and norms affect women’s roles in society**

Sudanese women are subordinated to men by patriarchal customs and prevailing norms, in addition to existing legal provisions. The 1991 MPSL includes several provisions that subordinate women to men, paramount among them provisions regarding male guardianship. However, academic experts on Sudan are generally in agreement that Sharia law is not the sole source of women’s subordination or restricted agency. Citing a report by a governmental task force composed of Sudanese women’s studies scholars, academic Sondra Hale writes: “[The members of the task force] make a clear attempt to exempt religion as a cause of women’s subordination: ‘the emphasis on the reproductive capacity of women in Sudan is largely a by-product of multidimensional constraints created by customs and traditions – _more than by religion_ – on women’” (Hale 1997, 123) (italics in original). Writing 20 years later, academic Liv Tonnessen (2019) reaffirms the role that ‘customs and traditions’ play in subordinating Sudanese women to men. Specifically, she discusses how the ‘male breadwinner-female caregiver’ model, and by extension the belief that the public sphere is the male domain while the private sphere is the female domain, are used to uphold three areas of Sudanese law, the first two of which were discussed in the preceding section: Muslim family law (or the 1991 MPSL), labor law, and public order laws.

The male breadwinner-female caregiver model is based on the belief that women are first and foremost wives and mothers whose duty is to care for their husbands, and their husbands’ family members, while bearing and raising children. By contrast, men are seen as economic providers. They are responsible for ensuring that their wives and children are properly housed, fed, clothed, and otherwise provided for. Paradoxically, in the 2018 Afrobarometer, more female respondents (48 percent) than male respondents (32 percent) thought that when jobs are scarce men should have more right to a job than women. In various societies, the male breadwinner-female caregiver model may be supported either by custom or by law. In Sudan, it is upheld by both. For example, while not necessarily applied de facto, according to the 1991 MPSL, women who wish to work outside the home must first seek permission from their husbands. The Arab Barometer’s 2018 survey sheds light on the way different countries’ populations conceive of gender roles and relations at both an individual and a societal level. For example, 74 percent of Sudanese agree with the statement “husbands should have final say in all decisions concerning the family,” placing Sudan ahead of every other country in the region. In response to the statement “women and men should have equal rights in making the decision to divorce,” 45 percent of Sudanese agree, placing Sudan behind every other country in the region. Building on the earlier Arab Barometer data shared with respect to opinions regarding inheritance rights and leadership opportunities, Sudan’s 30