Somalia’s Federal Parliament is currently in the throes of introducing a bill, the Sexual Intercourse Related Crimes bill, which, amongst other disturbing concessions, would make permissible the marriage of any girl who is menstruating, no matter her age.
The bill also proposes to allow forced marriage and makes the consent of the family in such marriages a higher priority than that of the individual. In short: Women and girls are property, not people! Bartering chips between families even.
Somalia has had a long and sordid history with female based criminal offences, falling far below international standards in its dealing with rape and sexual violence. Of its 12 million or so population, women make up about 50.4% of Somalia’s citizenry. Of these 6 million or so women, 98% of them have undergone Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and 34% of them were married before the age of 181, 16% of whom before their 15th birthday.2 FGM is performed to control a woman’s sexuality and deny her the sensual pleasure associated with the clitoris.
In 2018, prior to the Sexual Intercourse Related Crimes bill, Somalia had before the house of parliament the Sexual Offences bill, which prioritised victims of sexual violence and criminalised rape, child-marriage and sex-trafficking. It had taken 5 years to develop in consultation with women and international and domestic communities but was never enacted. It had been pending in parliament for over 2 years before the Sexual Intercourse Related Crimes bill had been introduced. The Sexual Offences bill outlined clear stipulations (in relation to the duties of the police and criminal investigators) which evinced sophistication and a regard for victims wholly lacking in the Sexual Intercourse Related Crimes bill. The new bill is as a major “step backwards” for women of Somalia, as it undoes much of the progress achieved by the former bill.3
Effectively, the human rights of Somali girls and women are erased. The bill serves to undermine female bodily autonomy, prematurely ending childhood for girls. The corona virus has compounded the problem with a reported rise in child marriages.4
Why the sudden rush to introduce such an archaic bill? Well, in 2014 at The Girl Summit, the Somali government signed up to end child marriage by 2020. In defence of the new bill, and by way of an explanation as to why it was drafted, Abdiweli Sheikh Ibrahim Mudeey, deputy speaker of the Somali Federal Parliament comments that the bill was drafted in confluence with women and with Islamic scholars. He added that “it is the correct one based on Islam”.5 The inclusion of women in drafting the bill is doubtful, however. The Horn of Africa (Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, etc.) is presently embattled with Islamic Insurgents.
In 2013 Somalia signed a Joint Communique with the UN vowing to strengthen its laws on sexual violence; the new bill betrays Somalia’s 2013 avowed committent to change. One UN Chief even calling the legislation a breach of “human rights norms”.6 Adding to this, it’s fair to criticise the Sexual Intercourse Related Crimes bill as being ill-conceived and poorly drawn. It contains inexact language surrounding the definitions of offences.
What stands out as the most egregious part of this legislation? It doesn’t prioritise the protection of victims, the vast majority of whom are women and girls! Whereas the Sexual Offences bill would.
Why do families agree to such marriages? Often there is a monetary incentive. Either by way of a dowry or by way of removing the financial burden of feeding and clothing the girl from the father. Occasionally, however, these measures backfire. If, for instance, the man the girl is married to becomes abusive. As a remedy the family may ask the man to divorce their daughter. If he agrees the girl’s father is ‘re-burdened’ with his daughter, as well as any children she produced during the course of the marriage, plunging the family further into poverty.
There has been worldwide condemnation of the Sexual Intercourse Related Crimes bill. From the United Nations (UNICEF and UNSOM) to domestic and foreign MPs, as well as international donors, the outcry over Somalia’s proposed bill has been enormous!
Defeating it has been called a “race against time” by Ma’alin, who sits on Somalia’s human rights committee, as the government’s mandate will end in just a few months time. Somalia’s government, as it stands, is in a precarious position as it currently rests in the hands of a care-taker government. In July 2020, Somalia’s prime minster was ousted in a vote of no-confidence; with upcoming elections to worry about it will be difficult for those who oppose the bill, in both international and domestic communities, to keep the focus where it belongs – on preventing the abuse of women and girls!
If you would like to help the girls and women of Somalia, please sign the Change.org petition found at the following link:
6 https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/08/1070022
Laura writes about issues affecting women. If you enjoyed her writing, donate to this author.