Lubna Al-Hussein is a Sudanese journalist who came to international fame when she was prosecuted in 2009 for wearing trousers. At the time, she was working for the media department of the United Nations Mission in Sudan and was known for her public criticism of the government of Sudan’s treatment of women. On the day of her arrest which brought international attention on the country, Lubna was at the Kawkab Elsharq Hall when police entered the building looking for women and girls wearing pants, a common place practice which had seen over 40,000 women arrested for clothing offences in the year 2008 alone. She, along with twelve other women, were arrested under Article 152 Obscene and Indecent Acts, but three of the women, including Hussein demanded a trial, while the other ten women pleaded guilty immediately and received 10 lashes. 

She used the time leading up to the trial to began a campaign against article 152, which was used as justification for her arrest, arguing that the articles was neither constitutional or acceptable by Shariah law. At the trial, Lubna was offered diplomatic immunity because of her work with the UN but she offered to resign in order to face trial with the tenant to appear her case to the upper and constitutional courts in an attempt to change the law. The trial inspired the creation of the No Oppression Against Women Initiative, a Sudanese women’s rights movement. Which directly contributed to Sudanese Revolution and the 39thmonth transition to democracy. A number of international organizations and media programs became involved in the case, with Amnesty International releasing a statement asking the government of Sudan to repeal the articles and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights writing to the government that Article 152 was tantamount to state-sanctioned torture. 

She was eventually found guilty and fine 500 pounds, which she refused to pay taking a one-month jail sentence instead, which she was eventually freed from after international pressure.