page_title: Human rights in Somalia
section_title: Women's rights
hierarchical_section_title: Human rights in Somalia / Women's rights
caption_attribution_description: English: Somali activist Hanan Ibrahim addressing the International Security Sector Advisory Team (ISSAT).
context_page_description: Human rights in Somalia throughout the late 20th-century and early 21st-century were considered dire, but have gradually improved over the following years. Human rights are guaranteed in the Federal Constitution, which was adopted in August 2012. They fall under the Ministry of Human Rights established in August 2013. The central authorities concurrently inaugurated a National Human Rights Day, endorsed an official Human Rights Roadmap, and completed Somalia's first National Gender Policy.
  A Human Rights Task Force was established in February 2013 to firm up on the protection of individual rights. The federal government in December 2014 organized a public awareness campaign, passed a new 54-point national Child Protection Act, and finished legislation on a Human Rights Commission bill. According to the UN's Independent Human Rights Expert on Somalia, local human rights protection has gradually improved as government institutionalization and legislative reform have taken root.
context_section_description: On August 1, 2012, a new Federal Constitution was adopted, which includes several statutes related to equality as proposed by a Committee of Experts (CoE). Article 11 of the Federal Constitution guarantees equal treatment for all citizens regardless of gender.
  Women have since obtained greater representation in the public sphere. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, 30% of seats in Somalia's Federal Parliament are legally reserved for women. This quota was secured by Somali parliamentary consultant Hodan Ahmed and other female political leaders. Ahmed had also helped form the Somali Women Parliamentary Association in 2009 in the preceding Transitional Federal Parliament. In November 2012, Prime Minister Shirdon likewise appointed two women to the Cabinet, Fowsiyo Yussuf Haji Aadan as the nation's first female Minister of Foreign Affairs and Maryam Qassim as Minister of Social Development.
  In June 2013, the federal government began drafting the country's first National Gender Policy. Led by Minister Maryam Qassim, the initiative was completed by August and aims to empower women, strengthen gender equality and safeguard women's rights.
  According to the UNDP, the most common types of violence faced by women and men in 2012 were physical attacks (50% of reported crime cases) followed by property crimes (32%). There was a low reported overall rate of sexual violence, with a reported nationwide prevalence rate ranging from 2% to 13%. The UNDP suggested that this was possibly attributable to reluctance on the part of female youth to report such cases due to entrenched cultural and social stigmas, though male youth were more likely to report crimes in general.
  Most incidents of sexual assault occurred within the context of the insurgency in southern Somalia. Over the first quarter of 2013, Amnesty International reported that 56.7% of victims in Mogadishu were internally displaced persons. According to Human Rights Watch, the government in 2013 developed comprehensive judicial and security reform plans, but had not yet followed through on those commitments. At least two women who reported rape were also prosecuted for prevarication, but were later released following appeals.
  To address the issue, the central authorities as of December 2013 were in the process of forming a special crime unit to investigate and counter gender-based violence, as well as constructing a clinic set aside for victims of sexual assault. The national judiciary, security and police forces were all concurrently receiving specialized gender training as part of the broader reform effort. In June 2014, the Somali government also launched a National Action Plan against sexual violence in conjunction with local civil society groups. As part of the initiative, the Ministry of Women and Human Rights in December 2014 organized a public awareness campaign in the capital on the importance of human rights and how citizens can ensure their protection. It also completed legislation on a new Human Rights Commission bill.
  According to a 2005 World Health Organization estimate, about 97.9% of Somalia's women and girls underwent female genital mutilation, a pre-marital custom mainly endemic to Northeast Africa and parts of the Near East. Encouraged by women in the community, it is primarily intended to deter promiscuity and to offer protection from assault. By 2013, UNICEF in conjunction with the Somali authorities reported that the prevalence rate among 1- to 14-year-old girls in the autonomous northern Puntland and Somaliland regions had dropped to 25% following a social and religious awareness campaign. Article 15 of the Federal Constitution also officially prohibits the practice.
  Prominent human rights activists include the constitutional Committee of Experts member Hanan Ibrahim, who serves as the Chairperson of the Barnet Muslim Women's Network; Hawa Aden Mohamed, Chairperson of the Galkayo Education Centre for Peace and Development; and Fartuun Adan and her daughter Ilwad Elman, founders of the Mogadishu-based Elman Peace and Human Rights Centre.
caption: Chairperson of the Barnet Muslim Women's Network Hanan Ibrahim addressing the ISSAT (2013).
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