Plight of Women & Children in Somalia: Increase in GBV & need for Inclusive Politics

New York, 23 February 2023 (TDI): Sima Bahous, United Nations (UN) Under-Secretary-General, and UN Women Executive Director, discussed the plight of Somalia in the UN Security Council meeting. 

The agenda she presented in the meeting was about the plight of women & children in the Somalian region. She said nearly 200,000 people were displaced from Laascaanood that include more than 60,000 women & children, that fled to neighboring countries. 

The major reason behind this is drought and increased risk of famine, the calamity left a large chunk of the population with food insecurity. In 2011, the last famine almost killed a quarter of the million population in Somalia.

Increase in Gender-based Violence in Somalia

There was witnessed an increase in gender-based violence in Somalia. She stated that two issues are of utmost importance to the Security Council regarding Somalian gender-based issues.

They are the 30 percent quota for women and the new legislation on sexual violence. There is an alarming rise in sexual violence since 2022, as doubled compared to 2019.

The natural calamity affected the women and girls of Somalia in an unprecedented manner. As per the report of CARE International, there occurred a 200 % increase in gender-based violence cases among people that are facing displaced by the drought. 

Likewise, UN Women shared that the drought increased the socio-economic burdens of women in form of skipped meals, separation and abandoning from husbands, longer travels in search of water and firewood along with sexual violence.

Also read: Somalia at risk of worst famine: UNOCHA reports

About 80 percent of SGBV (sexual and gender-based violence) is not even reported and reached the judiciary because of the hegemony of males in the law and order system. 

Cruel violence against women and girls is also linked with the fundamentalist organizations like Al-Shabaab and the Islamic State and also linked to inter-clan disputes. 

Al-Shabaab continues its atrocities against women and girls as they abduct women and girls for marriage purposes and also to occupy hospitals and maternity wards.

Al-Shabaab also remained involved in derailing political stability as it conducted attacks to disrupt the parliamentary election. In this context, they targeted an optimistic young woman, Amina Mohamed Abdi, who won a seat in Parliament.

In the attack about 50 civilians died, Al Shabaab also killed Hibaq Abukar, an adviser on Women’s Affairs in the office of the Prime Minister, a few months back. Al Shabaab also targeted women activists and women working in local and national politics. 

Furthermore, Sadia Samatar, the first woman to occupy the position of Deputy Speaker of Parliament, received death threats for speaking up in favor of women’s inclusion in the legislature.

Women’s Political Participation

The participation of women in politics and leadership roles is essential for inclusive societies but Somalia lags behind it.

As the representation of women is low, there is an increase in sexual violence, and the bill presented to the parliament ‘the sexual offenses bill’ has not passed yet.

On the contrary, the opponents of this bill want to legalize child marriage, omit the age of consent, reduce the types of admissible evidence, and take away the rights of survivors.

According to data, in the 2016 elections, women’s representation jumped from 14 to 24 percent, and the government has shown commitment that it would reach 30 percent in the next elections, but participation is on the decline from 80 to 67. 

Currently, only 13 percent of current members of the cabinet are women. In the elections in Somaliland in 2021, no woman was elected to the 82-seat House of Representatives, although there was a proposal to increase in quota that was rejected.

In the South-West State Assembly, women’s representation declined from 22 to 15 percent, and in Puntland and Hirshabelle, women’s representation rates remained quite low.

Need of the Hour

There is a need to make and implement meaningful policies that safeguard gender-based rights. The Federal government of Somalia needs to change its priorities over gender-based inclusive participation.

The government must ensure the participation of women in the civil service, the constitutional review, and the reforms of the justice and security sectors.

The participation of women must also be ensured for all efforts related to peacebuilding, state-building, preventing violent extremism, early warning, transitional justice, and humanitarian aid.

It is pertinent to note that the government of Somalia adopted its first National Action Plan on Women, Peace, and Security supported by UN Women, and the local action plans need to be implemented in their true essence.