Somalia – the Untold Story the War Through the Eyes of Somali Women
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Gardner 00 prelims 3/12/03 10:20 Page iii Somalia – The Untold Story The War Through the Eyes of Somali Women Edited by Judith Gardner and Judy El Bushra CIIR and Pluto P Press LONDON • STERLING, VIRGINIA Gardner 00 prelims 3/12/03 10:20 Page iv First published 2004 by Pluto Press 345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA and 22883 Quicksilver Drive, Sterling, VA 20166–2012, USA www.plutobooks.com Copyright © Edited by Judith Gardner and Judy El Bushra, and CIIR 2004 The right of the individual contributors to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 0 7453 2209 3 hardback ISBN 0 7453 2208 5 paperback Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Somalia––the untold story : the war through the eyes of Somali women / edited by Judith Gardner and Judy El Bushra. p. cm. ISBN 0–7453–2209–3 –– ISBN 0–7453–2208–5 (pbk.) 1. Women––Somalia. 2. Women refugees––Somalia. 3. Women and war––Somalia. 4. Women––Crimes against––Somalia. 5. Somalia––History––1991– 6. Somalia––Social conditions––1960– I. Title: War through the eyes of Somali women. II. Gardner, Judith. III. El-Bushra, Judy. HQ1795.S66 2004 305.4'096773--dc22 2003020195 10987654321 Designed and produced for Pluto Press by Chase Publishing Services, Fortescue, Sidmouth, EX10 9QG, England Typeset from disk by Stanford DTP Services, Northampton, England Printed and bound in the European Union by Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham and Eastbourne, England Gardner 00 prelims 3/12/03 10:20 Page v Contents Map vii Abbreviations viii Acknowledgements ix Preface x A note on Somali poetry xiii Introduction Judy Gardner and Judy El Bushra 1 PART 1: WOMEN’S EXPERIENCES OF THE WAR 1 Women’s role in the pastoral economy Rhoda M. Ibrahim 24 Testimony 1: Habiba Osman 41 2 Traditions of marriage and the household 51 Sadia Musse Ahmed Testimony 2: Amina Sayid 59 3 War crimes against women and girls 69 Fowzia Musse Testimony 3: A group view 85 Testimony 4: Shukri Hariir 89 PART 2: WOMEN’S RESPONSES TO THE WAR Section 1: Changing roles and responsibilities in the family 99 4 Domestic conflict in the diaspora – Somali women asylum seekers and refugees in Canada 107 Ladan Affi 5 Crisis or opportunity? Somali women traders and the war 116 Amina Mohamoud Warsame Testimony 5: Halimo Elmi 127 Section 2: Women mobilise for peace 139 6 Women and peace-making in Somaliland 142 Zeynab Mohamed Hassan and Shukri Hariir Ismail, et al Gardner 00 prelims 3/12/03 10:20 Page vi vi Somalia – The Untold Story 7 Women, clan identity and peace-building 153 Judith Gardner with Amina Mohamoud Warsame 8 Women’s roles in peace-making in the Somali community in north eastern Kenya 166 Dekha Ibrahim Section 3: Women’s rights, leadership and political empowerment 175 Testimony 6: Dahabo Isse 179 9 Post-war recovery and participation 189 Compiled from information provided by Shukri Hariir and Zeynab Mohamed Hassan Testimony 7: Noreen Michael Mariano 209 Starlin Abdi Arush – a tribute 215 Afterword: political update, July 2003 220 About the contributors 223 Appendices Appendix 1: Chronology of Somalia’s civil war 228 Appendix 2: Somalia in facts and figures 236 Appendix 3: Glossary 238 Appendix 4: Bibliography 241 Index 247 Gardner 00 prelims 3/12/03 10:20 Page vii E R I YEMEN T R SOMALIA E A Aden n TI A d e U f o f O G u l B I J Zeyla Bossaso D AWDA Erigavo L I Berbera SANAAG R Boroma WOQOOYIWOQ Sheikh A GALBEED El Afweyne Gebiley GALB B Arabseyo SOMALILAND B Gardo Harta Sheikh a HargeisaT Burao lli O Harshiin Gu G badl H SOOL e DE ER Las Anod Garowe NUGAL OGADEN ETHIOPIA Galkayo G Abudwaak U UD M R. Sh Balanbale ab e G ll A e L G A Beletweyne D U BAKOOL HIRAN D INDIAN Luuq Bulo Berti E OCEAN Baidoa L DD E MI L GEDO Jowhar EL A Burhakaba B HA BAY S Bardera Afgoi BANADIR Qoryoley Y Mogadishu 0 km 400 Wajir M LOWER IDD Kurtanwarey Merca LE SHABELLE 0 miles 200 R J N . U J B Brava u A b Dadaab a E LOWER JUBA K Kismayo A F R A T I L A N C T INDIAN I C OCEAN Frontier of Somalia O C A E A Frontier claimed by Somaliland N Other frontiers Main Roads Gardner 00 prelims 3/12/03 10:20 Page viii Abbreviations BBC British Broadcasting Corporation CCS Committee of Concerned Somalis CIIR Catholic Institute for International Relations COGWO Coalition for Grassroots Women’s Organisations COSONGO Committee for Somaliland NGOs FGM Female genital mutilation FIDA Federation of Women Lawyers ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross IGAD Inter-Governmental Agency on Development NGO Non-governmental organisation NSS National Security Service PENHA Pastoral and Environmental Network for the Horn of Africa RRA Rahanweyne Resistance Army SNM Somali National Movement SNRP Somalia National Reconciliation Process SOLWO Somaliland Women’s Organisation SOWDA Somaliland Women’s Development Association SOWRAG Somaliland Women’s Research and Action Group SPM Somali Patriotic Movement SSDF Somali Salvation Democratic Front SWA Somaliland Women’s Association SWDO Somali Women’s Democratic Organisation SWM Somali Women’s Movement TNA Transitional National Assembly TNG Transitional National Government UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNHCR United Nations High Commission for Refugees UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund UNIFEM United Nations Development Fund for Women UNOSOM United Nations Operation in Somalia USC United Somali Congress WADA Women’s Advocacy and Development Association WAPO Women’s Advocacy and Progressive Organisation WPDC Wajir Peace and Development Committee WPF Women’s Political Forum WSP War Torn Societies Project WWP Wajir Women for Peace viii Gardner 00 prelims 3/12/03 10:20 Page ix Acknowledgements Our biggest thanks go to the women whose words are published here, for allowing their experiences and topics of study to be shared through this book and for their patience while the text was being finalised. We were in contact with many more women than are represented in this final version, and we would like to thank all those who showed an interest in the book and who helped along the way. These include Zamzam Abdi, Faiza Jama, Sara Haid, Faisa Loyaan, Sacda Abdi, Amina Adan, Qamar Ibrahim, Safia Giama, Faduma Mohamed Omer ‘Halane’ plus Anab Ali Jama and the other women of Sheffield Somali Women’s Association and Welfare Group. Thanks too to all those who shared their expertise and helped to shape the final manuscript: Amina M. Warsame, Dr Adan Abokor, Faiza Warsame, Mark Bradbury, Adam Bradbury, Judith Large, Pippa Hoyland, Ruth Jacobson and Dr David Keen; and to Joy Lawley for her invaluable commitment to the project over six years. Among those whose voices are missing is Zeynab Aideed, whose oral account of her experience as an internally displaced person was one of the inspirations behind the book. This book was made possible through the generous funding support of the Department for International Development, Comic Relief, NOVIB, Christian Aid, CAFOD, UNICEF Hargeisa, and ActionAid Somaliland. ix Gardner 00 prelims 3/12/03 10:20 Page x Preface The idea for this book came about during a conversation I had in 1993 with a Somali refugee who had formed a London-based Somali organisation. On the day in question this normally calm man was clearly preoccupied. It emerged that he had recently learnt that his wife, who had stayed in Somalia when he fled the country, had been captured by militia, imprisoned in a villa with many other women and girls, and repeatedly raped and sexually violated for months during some of the worst violence in Mogadishu in 1992. Recently reunited with his wife after two years he had found her greatly changed. She had been unable to tell him about her ordeal but had eventually confided in a female friend. This woman’s experience pointed to a side of the Somali conflict that the outside world, and many Somalis themselves, were largely unaware of – the extent to which gender-based violence, most notably rape, had been used to prosecute the war. It was this story that led CIIR to begin research for a book with the aim of ensuring that women’s experiences of gender-based violence in the war would not be forgotten. Early on in the research for the book, however, it became obvious that there was much more to tell about the impact of the war on women’s lives. It was also clear that one of the most powerful ways to document such history was for Somali women themselves to tell it. The result is this book, which seeks to contribute to understanding about the war’s impact on women as seen through the eyes of women themselves. Here women write and talk about the war, their experiences, and the difficult choices, changes and even opportunities the war has brought. In the process they describe the position of women in Somali society, both before and since the war. The contributors come from different parts of Somalia, including the towns of Brava, Mogadishu and Baidoa in the South, the region of Puntland in the north east, and Somaliland in the north west. Also represented is the Somali-speaking region of Kenya’s north east, and Somali women refugees from the vast Somali diaspora in Yemen, Canada and Britain.