Minority Somali women facing Sexual Violence – report

Somali women and girls, particularly those belonging to minority ethnic groups, are especially vulnerable to sexual violence, a report by a lobby group has said.
The Report by Minority Rights Group International (MRG) says minority Somali women and girls are vulnerable to SGBV due to poverty, marginalisation and discriminatory attitudes.
According the report, Looma Ooyaan, No One Cries For Them, the perpetrators of these abuses against minority women in the war-ravaged country include members of the dominant, men from majority communities, militias and security forces.
“When legal mechanisms have been sought, minority women are often disadvantaged, and failed by, the customary (Xeer) justice system, which usually excludes female voices in favour of male decision-making,” said Christine Uyoga, MRG’s Gender Programme Coordinator for Somalia.
“As for the official judicial system, the lack of accountability and transparency further limits access to justice.” she added.
Other forms of human rights violations which minority women and girls face are murder, physical harm, hate speech, limited civil and political participation, prohibition on intermarriage with majority clans and low employment opportunities, says the report.
Furthermore, while there have been recent positive reforms and initiatives in Somalia which have aimed to increase the level of participation amongst women and girls, these have not included minority women.
“Dominant social groups are not in favour of enrolling minority girls, with social segregation still a prominent feature in the school environment,” Uyoga adds.
Political representation of minority women across Somalia is also wanting. The report reveals that, despite UN estimates that minority groups comprise as much as a third of the Somali population, political representation of minorities, particularly women, remains minimal.
In South-Central Somalia, for example, only 31 out of 275 parliamentary seats are allocated to minorities – and of these, only five are occupied by women.
The report faults Somali authorities for failing to implement existing treaties, or sign and ratify the regional and international treaties that protect women.
As of 2014, Somalia had still not signed the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.
Source: STAR