In Somalia women or even small girls are not able talk about sexual assaults because of the stigma associated with it. once a girl is assaulted, she is devalued instead of being supported by the Government and the society. Rape among young girls is rampant and parents of this children hide the occurrence because of shame because these girls should be virgin at the age of marriage and if news of their rape spreads no one will marry them in future, very unfortunate situation.
There have been recent cases where Religious Teachers have
raped girls as young as 8 and 10 years old and unfortunately the 10 years died because
of the injurie sustained from the rape. There has been less support for the affected
families because they were poor families live rural areas.
I wish no stigma and shame was associated with this deadly
situation as the girl child is disapproved on something that is not her fault
and real sense, she is the victim. There have been many cases where several men
rape one girl and few are punished for this.
There are many cases where girls below the ages of 10 years have
been raped by their Biological fathers, uncles and their step-dads. All these
cases are hidden in order to preserve family honor, which is so wrong.
The young girls are assaulted by people they had trusted most,
their own teachers and people from their own house hold and that doesn’t mean
they are safe on the street.
It is time for the Somali government and non-profit organisations
supporting Somalia to develop a big focus on issues related to assaults of
Women and Girls because the culture and the society ignore these issues and the
victims are stigmatized.
This is article is by Habiba
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