SOMALIA - Women, the Victims of Violence

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NAIROBI 001409

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR AF/E AND A/S CARSON

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL ECON KWMN SOCI KCUL SO
SUBJECT: SOMALIA - Women, the Victims of Violence

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Summary
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1. (SBU) Escalating violence in the past two months has claimed the
lives of an estimated 250 Somalis, has injured more than 1500, and
has driven thousands from their homes. Increasingly, women are
being directly targeted and are bearing the brunt of the conflict's
devastating consequences. Somali women have told us that there has
been an upsurge in brutal attacks against women, as well as of
rapes, kidnappings, and killings. The rise in violence has spurred
an accelerated flight of women and their families from Mogadishu and
surrounding areas. Because of the violence, local markets have shut
down and others, like Bakara market, are now completely under
al-Shabaab control. Without daily access to markets, women have
lost critical income-generating opportunities. Al-Shabaab has
brought with it a brand of Islam that further limits opportunities
for women and girls, resulting in increased social segregation. In
addition, Somalis fear targeting and retaliation by al-Shabaab
should they attempt to resist or counter its influence. Although
many NGO leaders and international organizations have withdrawn from
Mogadishu,women with whom we spoke offered concrete proposals for
ways to immediately and directly impact the lives of Somalia's most
vulnerable populations. End Summary.

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Women Increasingly Targeted
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2. (SBU) The recent surge in violence, especially in Mogadishu, has
had a profound impact on Somalia's most vulnerable populations,
especially women. During a series of individual and small group
discussions, Somali women - including those inside the country,
those who have recently fled, and women in the Diaspora - voiced
several concerns. They told us of an upsurge in brutal attacks
against women, including killings, rape, and kidnapping. (Note:
While this type of violence is not new in Somalia, the frequency and
the systematic nature of it appear to be increasing. End note.)
Like men, women who lead local NGOs or run businesses, or those who
are associated with the Transitional Federal Government (TFG),are
reportedly increasingly targeted. Kadija Ali, president of the
board of SAACID, an NGO working in South Central Somalia to improve
the lives of women and children, related the account of a
businesswoman who was shot in the head and killed in Mogadishu on
June 25. The woman was considered too "outspoken" and was directly
targeted because of her leadership role in the community. Our
contacts told us that attacks like this have become commonplace.


3. (SBU) Asli Duale, a 46-year old Mogadishu-born women's rights
activist who left the capital just a few days ago, recounted
numerous recent attacks. On July 1, three women who were accused of
being informants for the TFG were brutally killed. The week of June
22, a 14-year-old girl in Mogadishu's contested Karan district went
out in the morning to fetch baking ingredients from a local shop,
and was captured by insurgents. The young girl was raped and
beaten, and is still in the hospital. Duale spoke of another recent
victim, a woman in her early 30s who sold khat in the Shibis
district. Insurgents, who had been taking khat from her without
paying, later kidnapped the woman, drove her miles away from
Mogadishu, tortured, and eventually killed her.


4. (SBU) Gender-based violence is a major problem, and not just in
southern Somalia. A UNHCR senior protection officer based in
Hargeisa (Somaliland) noted that "rape is common and underreported,"
both within villages and in internally displaced persons (IDP)
camps. She alleged to us that women are frequently beaten. Several
of our contacts have also noted a rising problem of fistula among
women, as many who flee their homes in southern Somalia as the
result of conflict are forced to give birth on the road.

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Lost Economic Opportunities:
Markets Close and Many Forced to Flee
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5. (SBU) The economic ramifications of the escalating violence
disproportionately affect women. During the last 18 years, Somali
women had often become the main breadwinners, as men had either
joined the fighting or been less successful in finding employment.
Several women acknowledged that because women are less educated than
men, they have had a harder time, but in many cases have been able

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support their families through small trade or business, often
selling vegetables or goods at local markets. Today, many of those
markets are closed. Bakara market, the largest in Mogadishu, is now
completely controlled by al-Shabaab, and many women have told us
that it is now off-limits for anyone but allies of the extremists.
In addition, many of the poorest had relied on a day-labor market,
which has now virtually disappeared.


6. (SBU) Our contacts told us that more than ever before, there are
severe risks associated with daily life in the capital. After the
August 2008 roadside bomb that killed 20 and injured 47 others, most
of whom were women cleaning Mogadishu streets, women are
increasingly fearful of conducting their daily activities, working,
or engaging in small-scale business.


7. (SBU) The recent violence has also forced more and more families
to flee their homes, either to other areas of the country, congested
IDP camps, or outside of the country. Women predominantly lead this
flight, especially within Somalia, as men are increasingly recruited
to take arms. "The whole struggle is on women's shoulders," noted a
female, Bossaso-based project officer for Mercy Corps, who is in
charge of emergency response to the influx of IDPs in Puntland.
Rather than leaving the country, many women have sought safety in
other regions like Puntland, Somaliland, and in other areas within
Mogadishu. Mogadishu, once with a population of roughly 1.6
million, is estimated to have about 650,000 people remaining - half
of whom are too poor to leave. Duale told us, "We are running from
bullets. The first thing you think of is to take your children and
run far away, but you cannot manage because there are bullets
everywhere - people are desperate." Some women hire wheelbarrows
and trucks to take small bags of their possessions - food, their
children's clothes, charcoal, small kitchen goods with them to safer
areas. Others flee with nothing.

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Changes in Women's Roles
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8. (SBU) Many of the older Somali women we talked with in Nairobi
spoke about how women's roles have changed over the last twenty
years. Religious conservatism and extremism have most noticeably
impacted women. Dahabo Omar Mohamed, an older Somali woman who left
Mogadishu in February 2008 - but continues to serve as a contact for
the Coalition for Grassroots Women Organizations (COGWO) - noted
that under Siad Barre's regime, the "law was there for women," even
if it was not fully implemented. At that time, primary education
was required for both boys and girls. Today, many public schools
have closed or been targeted, and the gender disparity within
schools has widened. According to UNFPA, approximately one fifth of
the population is literate (19.2 per cent),and there are 10 boys
for every 8 girls in primary school; in secondary school, the ratio
is 10 to 5.


9. (SBU) Hibo Yassin, the chairwoman of the Somali Women Agenda, an
umbrella organization based in Nairobi, spoke of the days when it
was common for women to do everything alongside men - attend school,
play sports, work in agriculture, and move around the community.
Today, she noted that girls are no longer allowed to fully
participate in social and economic activities. Women now cover
themselves completely, and leave the house less, or risk being
targeted. Our contacts told us even old women are forced to sit in
the back of buses in al-Shabaab-controlled areas, and are whipped if
they sit in front. Sahra Omar Maalin, chair of IIDA, an influential
women's rights organization, said "Our culture has completely
changed" and noted that today, the insurgents "make us shy."

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Women Too Fearful To Organize
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10. (SBU) When asked whether women in Mogadishu are organizing,
Asli Duale replied "how can you organize anything when you are
running from a flying bullet?" Dahabo Mohamed, who routinely speaks
to many of her sister organizations in Somalia, told us, "Today,
women can't go anywhere. No one wants women to be involved. In
this period, you can't lobby for women's rights because everyone is
paralyzed." Many of the local NGO leaders we spoke with left the
country in recent months, even after staying and working during the
last, turbulent twenty years.


11. (SBU) With direct targeting of community leaders, suicide

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bombings, and recent retaliations, women and community leaders are
much more hesitant to organize, for fear of the wrath of al-Shabaab.
They told us that al-Shabaab's intelligence operation is so
sophisticated that it launches attacks as soon as it senses
organized resistance. Our contacts described a climate of terror
that has engulfed communities in recent weeks, making everyone
fearful of what will happen next. Asli Duale noted, "Somalia is not
the place where you can demonstrate. You don't have that access -
women are just running with their children." Kadija Ali said that
"if al-Shabaab comes we are buried alive. They don't have an agenda
for Somalia; their agenda is global. The TFG is at least backed by
the West, and there women can shout."

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International Organizations Absent
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12. (SBU) Many Somali women emphasized that despite the
humanitarian crisis, and worsening situation for women and children,
they feel that the international community has completely
disappeared from the scene. "The NGOs are the ones who run fast,"
one woman noted. "They are targeted and they have the means to
leave." The most educated Somalis have also fled. Hawa, the
country director of SAACID who continues to run a wet feeding
program in Mogadishu, said that she would be surprised if there were
even a dozen doctors left in Mogadishu, and that nurses were now
performing surgery.


13. (SBU) Women overwhelmingly expressed a sense of desperation and
urgency in their need to tell the world what is happening, but
lamented their lack of capacity. They spoke of the international
community being "tired of Somalia after twenty years." Many feel
that donors distrust local Somali NGOs. Resources are
overwhelmingly diverted to UN agencies, which remain "removed from
reality because they must work from Nairobi." The women felt that
"remote control" of local organizations in the field had failed, as
funding and capacity have yet to be transferred to Somali
organizations. Equally, many Somali women voiced a distrust of the
international community. "I don't see anything moving," Hawa noted.


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Addressing the Gaps and Looking Ahead
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14. (SBU) Women spoke with overwhelming despair about the situation
in Somalia, especially with the escalating violence of recent weeks.
Despite this sense of desperation, women identified key areas where
local and international organizations could make a difference for
women. These include: immediate supplies (food, medical supplies,
wheelchairs, etc.),basic maternal healthcare services so women can
give birth safely, reproductive health education for girls, services
to deal with gender-based violence, adult education for women,
micro-credit, and skills training. These programs can be realized
through financial support and capacity building of local NGOs who
continue to work on these issues, both in south central Somalia as
well as within IDP camps.


15. (SBU) Our contacts detailed stories of increased killings and
abuse of women and the widespread victimization of girls and women
in the country. Yet they also emphasized Somali women's strength,
resiliency, courage, and creativity in the face of the violence.
Many women travel back and forth to the country, have started
organizations to help women and refugees, and are seeking ways to
amplify their voices. However, Somali women face considerable
challenges and are increasingly constrained by the growing influence
of al-Shabaab. We are reaching out to those Somali NGOs and women's
associations which remain active, despite the enormous risk, to
identify areas where we can directly assist women in their efforts
to care for their families, gain skills, secure economic
opportunities, and ensure that their voices are not silenced by the
insecurity and instability that continues to plague Somalia.

RANNEBERGER