Population size:
15,980,169 [1]
Number of people experiencing domestic abuse each year:
No research.
Cost of domestic abuse to the economy each year:
No research.
Estimated % change due to COVID-19:
With just over 50% of sexual violence perpetrators living in the same house as the survivor or are neighbours with the survivor, COVID-19 restrictions place women and children at significant risk. In Mogadishu, over 100 cases of sexual violence were documented between the end of January and mid-April 2020. We saw 13 cases documented in less than 72 hours. Nearly 65% of the all the cases we have worked on involve child survivors, most of which are girls. Over 600 cases have been documented by SWDC in the first quarter of 2020 alone, which has doubled compared to the last quarter of 2019. [2]
Current law and policy:
Somalia has committed to ending gender-based violence in conflict and is working to strengthen legal protections for women and girls.
August 2018, UN Women Executive Director, Phumzile Mlamb0-Ngcuka, described the government of Somalia’s journey to tackle gender-based violence as “very difficult” but “promising”. Somalia’s Prime Minister said to her that it was important that the constitutional review being undertaken makes the lives of the women of Somalia better, today and tomorrow.
November 2019: Saida Mohamed Hashim, Child Protection Adomestic violenceiser with the Somali Federal Ministry of Justice and Judicial Affairs, said at an event for 16 Days of Activism: “The Federal Government of Somalia is committed to end any forms of violence, and give everyone access to justice.”
Somalia’s Provisional Constitution of 2012 commits the country to ending discrimination on all grounds, including gender, and reaffirms the right of every person to their inviolable physical integrity.
July 2019 the Somali Government agreed with the UN Special Representative to develop a new national action plan to end sexual violence in conflict.
Sources
[1] Worldometer, “Somalia Population (Live)”, (worldometers.info)
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