Independent:In Somaliland, women are being raped as a result of extreme drought

Saalax · February 18, 2017

Alice Rowsome Hargeisa 6 hours ago

In Somaliland, women are being raped as a result of

extreme drought and lack of support

Tens of thousands of people have been displaced as

a direct result of the Horn of Africa’s ongoing

unprecedented drought. But it is women and

young mothers who are bearing the brunt

“Two days ago four men came, grabbed me and started

raping me. Most women and girls in the camp have been

assaulted or raped by gangs,” begins Hodan Ahmedan, 23,

sitting in her makeshift shelter where she has lived since

she arrived from drought-ridden eastern Somaliland to

a camp for internally displaced in Hargeisa.

Cases of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) are rife

here. A lack of police presence, inadequate lighting, an absence

of sanitary facilities and an increase in the number of

female-only households has rendered this camp an ideal

ground for SGBV. “The ground is really hard here so we can’t

dig to make lavatories.

This means we have to go outside and because there is no

privacy in the open, we only go once it gets dark,” explains

Hodan “and by the time it is dark enough for us to go, it

also becomes very dangerous as many gangs operate

here. These are the circumstances in which I was raped.”

“It happens to all of us, all the time,” concludes Sahra Hussein,

one of the oldest residents in the camp.

FORUM