The separation has definitely affected the women's movement in Sudan. Before the separation, and particularly during the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, there was quite a strong women's movement. Women from the north and south were working together, coordinating with each other, and supporting each other. And we have lost that, you know.
We are still trying to connect. We are still trying to share strategies and experiences. But for sure, that has affected the women's movement in the north.
It has affected it also in another direction, especially when it comes to the issue of Islamic laws. Before independence, there was a strong argument for religious diversity. We are not all Muslim, so that gave us an argument against Islamic sharia laws. We are losing that, because now most of the people in the north are Muslims.
We also have to change our strategies. We can no longer use that excuse. Although we are not yet 100% Muslims, we are definitely not as we used to be before independence. This is definitely affecting the movement.
It is also affecting the South Sudanese women, because they were also very much supported by the relatively strong women's movement in the north, and they are now losing that. They are also losing it increasingly because the government structure in the south has taken some of the women from the civil society to now be ministers and part of the government. So the movement in the south is also struggling.
We are now part of a society that is bringing the women from the north and south together. I hope that what happened last week is not going to affect that, but I am afraid that it will.