World must 'wake-up' to plight of Somali women
Somali human rights worker Fartun Adan says “the world needs to wake up” to the increasing danger for women in her homeland.
Just weeks after Channel 4 News spoke to women in Somalia who said they had been raped in camps in Mogadishu, a Somali human rights worker, who wants to remain anonymous, writes about why “the world needs to wake-up” to the increasing danger for women.
Since the report aired there’s been a huge outcry in Somalia. Some are saying rape is not a problem in the country. But the truth is, it’s worse that the Channel 4 News report showed.
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At the beginning of the year our organisation, Sister Somalia, set up a hotline for women who have been raped because violence against girls and women has become so widespread. We get more than five calls a week from girls who have been raped in the camps around Mogadishu asking for help.
It’s not culturally acceptable to talk about rape in Somalia. For the women survivors, if they speak out about what happened to them, they will probably never be married or accepted in their own communities.
Sister Somalia is the first initiative to openly talk about rape and its prevalence here. As Somali women we have to speak up. We can’t say it’s too risky to talk about what is happening, especially when you see what the women and mothers are going through.
If rape survivors go to the hospital, they have to pay for treatment. We try to help with health fees, counselling and training. We get together and talk and support each other. By creating the right environment, survivors are able open up and talk about what has happened to them.
We hear so many stories. There’s the case of one 17-year-old girl, and while growing up she only had her father to rely on. Then he was killed and she had to take care of her brothers and sisters. She would sell tea in the market to look after the family. But then she was raped and she couldn’t even leave her home. She was too scared to go back to the market. She is not only responsible for her family but is also dealing with the trauma of sexual violence. You can’t imagine what she is going through. We helped her to relocate to a safer area, and now we are supporting her to run a business.
In other areas an armed man will turn up at a house and say, “I’m going to marry your daughter” and she, or her parents, have no choice but to agree. It’s a forced marriage, and then two or three weeks later, the man will divorce her. This never used to happen, but for the past two or three years, these “marriages” of only a few weeks have become common.
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I want the international community to know what is happening in our homes, camps and villages. There’s no law and no protection. If women go to the police to report a rape there is no justice. Nothing will happen to investigate the crime and the woman only puts herself at more risk of attack.
The camps are not safe because they are in open spaces, with no secure homes, and little security. They are mostly filled with women and children who have fled to the displacement camps around Mogadishu. Living alone in flimsy huts, there is nothing they can do to protect themselves.
The first step is for the world to wake up to the increasing danger for women in Somalia, but of course ultimately there needs to be protection and justice.