Photo credit: Dave Gilchrist

Yesterday, February 8, 2025, Sudanese women and their allies held a silent march in London, from Parliament Square to 10 Downing Street. A letter addressed to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was read to the protesters, calling on the British government to exert pressure on the warring parties in Sudan to stop the war and establish humanitarian corridors for the delivery of essential aid. The protesters signed the letter, which will be delivered to 10 Downing Street at a later date.

The march was organised by the Sudanese Women’s Union UK & Ireland (SWUUK&I) to protest the ongoing war in Sudan and the escalating violence against women. Despite Sudanese women’s long and vital role in every revolution and struggle in Sudan—including their leadership in the 2018 revolution—they have consistently faced oppression under successive dictatorships, particularly during Omar al-Bashir’s regime since 1989.

Amira Awad Osman, a representative of SWUUK&I, told MENA Solidarity:

The march aimed to highlight the gender-based violence (GBV) being used as a weapon of war against women and girls in Sudan and to call upon all civil rights groups, the UK government, political parties, and other influential actors to put pressure on the two warring parties to end the war and work towards lasting peace.

Since the outbreak of war in April 2023, violence against women has reached horrific new levels. Both militias—the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)—have turned women’s bodies into battlegrounds, employing rape, sexual enslavement, and mass killings as weapons of war. This is not collateral damage; it is a deliberate, coordinated campaign of terror against Sudanese women.

Protesters chanted messages, including:

• “Stop the war in Sudan! Stop the violence in Sudan!“
• “No militia, no Burhan! Civilian rule in Sudan!“
• “From Sudan to Palestine—genocide is a crime!“

Elisa Rowland, an organiser of the UK Women’s March 2025, which took place in cities and towns across the UK on January 18th in support of women’s rights, addressed the protesters, stating:

For women in Palestine, Sudan, Congo, Iran, and Afghanistan, the fight is not just for women’s liberation but for national liberation. We must fight against imperialism and the deep scars of colonialism.

Rowland added:

What the people of Sudan are enduring is horrific, but the power of resistance remains—in all those who overthrew the rotten dictator Omar al-Bashir, in all those who organised Resistance Committees, independent trade unions, and campaigns demanding refugee rights and environmental justice. The spirit of the revolution lives on in the resistance of the people, in this protest today, and in the brave women revolutionaries who will continue to fight for justice, self-determination, and liberation for all.

Mrs. Osman issued the following appeal through MENA Solidarity:

The SWU UK&I appeals to civil society in the UK and Ireland:

• To put Sudan on its agenda.
• To join the SWU UK&I in its continuous efforts to raise awareness about the bloody war in Sudan and the regional and international actors that support the war by providing weapons and logistics to the warring parties.
• To highlight the suffering of the Sudanese people, including refugees, and to lobby, campaign, and support the Sudanese people’s call for a just peace.

The war and the systemic violence against Sudanese women must end. No woman—whether in Sudan, Palestine, or anywhere in the world—should have to endure the horrors of war and oppression. The fight for women’s liberation is inseparable from the fight for a just and free Sudan.

To learn more about the war in Sudan, read this article.

The struggle continues.

Resources and background:

Listen to this interview to learn more about what is happening in Sudan.

For more information and resources, access our Stop the War in Sudan toolkit and sign the postcard addressed to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, urging the British government to support the Sudanese people.

Share this motion with your union branch and advocate for its adoption: Model Motion – Stand with Sudan: Stop the War, Support the People

Download resources:

• ‘Reject both sides in Sudan’s war’ Sudan Update February 2025 – download the leaflet >>here
• ‘Famine is the new war’ Sudan Update September 2024 – download the leaflet >>here
• ‘Stopping Sudan’s hidden war’ Sudan Update March 2024 – download the leaflet >>here
• ‘Why is there a war in Sudan?’ Sudan Update May 2023 – download the leaflet >>here
• ‘Stop the war in Sudan’ Sudan Update April 2023 – download the leaflet >>here
• Stop the war in Sudan / Refugees welcome A4 poster – download >>here