it was also rated as "not free". In the 2013 report of 2012 data, Sudan ranks 171st out of 186 countries on the Human Development Index (HDI). Sudan also is one of very few countries that are not a signatory on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Despite all of this, there have been positive changes in regard to gender equality in Sudan. As of 2012, women embodied 24.1% of the National Assembly of Sudan. Sudanese women account for a larger percentage of the national parliament than many Westernized nations. Notwithstanding that, gender inequalities in Sudan, particularly as they pertain to female genital mutilation and the disparity of women to men in the labor market, have received attention in the international community. Sudan signed the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) on 30 June 2008, but as of July 2020 has not ratified it yet. Democratic transition (2019–present) When the democratic transition was initiated in 2019 after large-scale protests led by Sudanese women, gradual legal reform has improved the status of women's rights in the country. In late 2019, the Public Order Act was repealed; it was controversial for various reasons, such as Article 152 of the Act, which stipulated that women who wore trousers in public should be lashed 40 times. Other restrictions targeting women that were repealed included the lack of freedom of dress (by the mandatory hijab and other measures), movement, association, work and study. Alleged violations (many of whom were considered 'arbitrary' by activists) were punished with arrest, beatings and deprivation of civil rights such as freedom of association and expression. According to Ihsan Fagiri, leader of the No to Oppression Against Women Initiative, around 45,000 women were prosecuted under the Public Order Act in 2016 alone. In April 2020, the Criminal Code was amended to criminalise female genital mutilation (FGM), which was made punishable by a fine and 3 years imprisonment. In July 2020, the need for women to obtain permission from a male relative to travel, and flogging as a form of punishment, were abolished. Women's rights activists such as 500 Words magazine editor Ola Diab and Redress legal advisor Charlie Loudon hailed the abolition of repressive measures and restrictions on women as 'great first steps'. They emphasised that the new laws needed to