How would you like to live in a place where assault is normal, a part of your everyday living? Due to a failing government Somalia has lost control of the people. Guns and weapons have become inadequate in inflicting pain. Consequently, rape has become a weapon of war; the violation of women in Somalia has caused communities pain in a way that weapons could not. The harm inflicted on these women is not only an attack on the individual, but an attack on her family and community. According to “Amnesty International Women’s bodies have become part of the terrain of conflict. The report argues that rape and sexual abuse is not just a by-product of war but is used as a deliberate military strategy. (Somalia current, 2013.)” Raping’s in Somalia mean more than meets the eye; people are using women as a way to get back at the enemy, a way to hurt and humiliate each other. The worst part is that government is not doing anything to protect women from being sexually assaulted; as a result Somalia has come into a major problem. In the past six months there have been 800 reported rapes, keep in mind that “rapes are vastly underreported (Muscati, 2014),”as women in the past have been put in jail for reporting raping. Many incidents of rape are initiated by government officials; leaving the victims feeling like they can't trust anyone in uniform.
Nobody's Safe
A failing goverment and a troubled country
By: Nicole Colindres