LUBNA/AL-HUSSEIN SUDAN PROSE

ubna al-Hussein was born in 1973 in a traditional Sudanese social en- vironment. She was a well-known

journalist in Sudan until the pressures of censor- ship forced her to stop writing. In the summer of 2009, al-Hussein and ten other women were arrested by the police at a restaurant in Khar- toum. Their “crime” – they were wearing trou- sers. Sudanese law punishes “crimes against morality” with 40 lashes and fines. In 2008 alone, 43,000 women were accused of having breached clause 152 on morality in the penal code.

Lubna al-Hussein decided to rebel in the name of all these women and pursue her cau-se in the presence of the entire world. She has written the book 40 coups de fouet pour un pan- talon (40 Lashes for a Pair of Trousers), which is a personal testimony of her “crime” against the background of the history of her native country burdened by both sharia law and tra- dition. Her brave and public actions have att-racted the attention of International PEN and the world’s media. In August 2010, her book was translated into Swedish by Camilla Nilsson and published by Sekwa (40 piskrapp för ett par byxor).

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LUBNA AL-HUSSEIN meeting her readers at the göteborg book Fair. she spoke about her book 40 coups de Fouet pour un pantalon (40 lashes For a pair oF trousers), which stirred a debate about laws and traditions.