Empowering young women through mentoring Literature Review Alyson Johnson

Introduction The focus of this literature review is to show the information found on the issues that women in Somalia face, organizations that aid Somali women and how a mentoring program can best be implemented. Somali women have yet to gain the same freedoms that men have and seem to be far from gaining them. However, organizations have slowly begun to pop up in order to help and educate Somali women. Issues in Somalia According to Qasim (2011), Somalia was recently ranked as number five on the list of the worst places in the world for women to live. There are many issues that have contributed to Somalia making this list but one in particular is the number or sexual abuse and rape cases. Other factors such as hunger, drought, war, and female genital mutilation have also led to Somalia receiving this title. According to Qasim (2011), 95% of young women in Somalia have faced or will faced female genital mutilation. The main reason for this is the lack of knowledge the women have. Somali women are not informed of the risks and consequences of all of these problems and are usually blindsided. However, the main issue this literature review focuses on is rape and sexual abuse. Zam Zam Adbullahi (2009), a human rights activist in Somalia also explains that education is the main thing that Somali women lack. Give women better access to education. Enable them to learn more, know their rights and stand up for themselves. Young women who go to university are still vulnerable to abuse, but at least they know that it is wrong. Somali women need to know about their rights according to Islam that standing up for their rights does not mean abandoning their culture and their religion. Laetitia Bader, from Human Rights Watch (2014), said that instead of worrying about women reporting false rape claims, they should recognize the urgent need to build up strong and independent institutions capable of preventing rape and supporting victims. Although the actual number of rape cases reported is very low, The Human Rights Watch (2014) explains this with Many victims will not report rape and sexual assault because they lack confidence in the justice system, are unaware of available health and justice services or cannot access them, and fear reprisal and stigma. The key word their being unaware. Somali women lack the access to organizations that educate and explain their rights to them. Qasim simply says this With only little resources and expertise on the ground, I ask my fellow sisters scattered around the world to ask the tough questions, knock on the doors of the powerful and to continue to speak up. She

explains that the most important thing to do is to make others aware and to broadcast the problem so that hopefully, eventually the problems will be put to an end. Other organizations The Elman Peace and Human Rights Center is an organization that aids Somali women who have been raped. In an article by Jeffery Gettleman (2011) a spokesperson from the organization explains that she wants to expand her medical services and counseling for rape victims and possibly open a safe house but doesnt have an immense amount of funds to do so. The Save Somali Women and Children is another organization that aims to help rebuild the lives of women and their families after they have been sexually abused or raped. They believe that by helping women through this organization, a community will begin to be built and other women will in turn be positively affected. Sister Somalia is another organization that aims to help victims of rape and sexual abuse. This organization is mainly found through word-of-mouth. Victims that are treated here then go out and tell their friends about it so they can get treated as well. Implementing a mentoring program Although the third part of the essential question is hard to back up with literature, as it is based off of my opinion, the research conducted has led to a model that could potential be useful. The Hands of a Hero foundation is a foundation that was set up with the goal of helping youth in both Canada and Ghana. This foundation requires those who want to possibly become mentors to go through a short application process. They help youth who are somewhat hopeless restore hope and look forward to a positive future. This is a program in which the mentoring program could mimic and follow the lead of.

Conclusion Somalia is a hard place to live for women. Although women other places in the world have slowly gained equal rights as men, Somali women still have not. It is an ongoing battle and women are usually mentally and physically abused as a result of the injustice they face. Many problems are faced by Somali women such as hunger, famine, limited access to clean drinking water, and conflict. However, the literature addresses a large increase in the number of sexual abuse and rape cases. Organizations such as The Elman Peace and Human Rights Center, Save Somali Women and Children, and Sister Somalia have been formed to help the women of Somalia to become educated about their rights and to help victims.

Works Cited Adan, A. F., & Shannon, L. (2012). Sister Somalia. Retrieved from http://www.sistersomalia.org/ Bader, L.(2014, February 20). A first step toward ending somalias rape epidemic. Retrieved from http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/02/20/first-step-toward-ending-somalia-s-rape-epidemic Birago, P.(2013). Hands of a hero foundation. Retrieved from http://handsofahero.org Elmi, H. A. (2013). Save somali women and children. Retrieved from http://www.sswc-som.com/newsite/index.php/home/about-us Gettleman, J. (2011, December 27). For somali women, pain of being a spoil of war. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/28/world/africa/somalia-faces-alarming-rise-in-rapes-ofwomen-and-girls.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1& Qasim, M. (2011, June 17). The women of somalia are living in hell. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jun/17/women-somalia-hell-worst-world (2014, February 13). Somalia: women shouldnt live in fear of rape. Retrieved from http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/02/13/somalia-women-shouldn-t-live-fear-rape (2009, January 20). Struggling for womens rights in somalia. Amnesty International. Retrieved from https://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/feature-stories/struggling-womens-rightssomalia-20090120