By Faisal A. Roble
Yesterday was a time of a relative peace, where Beerlula was both beautiful and honorable; today, she is cursed because she is at the cusp of being raped and bestially abused by men from afar. If Hadrawi eloquently portrayed Beerlula’s beauty, Mahmoud Tukale exposed her distant fears that one day she may be condemned to be at the disposal of a “man from afar.” Regrettably, she is today “looma ooyaan,” or, a member for whom “the bell does not toll.” The rest of us are in a stage of what Somalis call “sasmo,” or bewilderment.
In a well-crafted report titled, “The Power These Men Have Over us:” Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by African Union Forces in Somalia,” Human Rights Watch unreservedly washed Somalia’s dirty linin in public. The September 8, 2014 Rights’ report summaries painful incidents of rampant sex abuses, rape and pervert sexual activities committed by AMISOM soldiers against teenage Somali girls as well as adult women.
“This 71-page report documents the sexual exploitation and abuse of Somali women and girls on two AMISOM bases in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, since 2013. The AU soldiers, relying on Somali intermediaries, have used a range of tactics, including humanitarian aid, to coerce vulnerable women and girls into sexual activity. They have also raped or otherwise sexually assaulted women who were seeking medical assistance or water at AMISOM bases. Human Rights Watch interviewed 21 women and girls who described being raped or sexually exploited by Ugandan or Burundian military personnel serving with the AU forces.”
The Rights’ report comes at the tail end of a steady deterioration of Somali women’s honor. Since 1970s, Somali artists have verbalized both the beauty and the apocalypse befalling the relationship women had with their counterparts, thus giving way to their current vulnerable social position. Whereas men presided over the destruction of their nation, Somali women lost protection, and some of them succumbed to an abhorrent slavery – that is sexual slavery in the hands of AMISOM soldiers.
From Respected Beauty Queen to Sexually Abused Subjects
The acentric British explorer, Sir Richard Burton of England, the first European to enter Harar from the East, praised both the beauty and the well-mannered Somali women. On his way to Harar in 1858, he was hosted by Garad Adan’s Court and his wife, Garada (queen) Doobiro Doodi. Sir Burton was marveled at the queen’s elegance, full stature, and the distinguished royalty like reception she gave him.
One hundred years later, a former British game hunter in East Africa in the 1940s once shared his observations about the beauty and regal nature of Somali woman. With much enthusiasm, he reported that when Somali woman basks in peace time, in which she thrives more than any other social group, to witness “her lanky walks,” and the balanced movement of her body parts one side at a time is truly scenic. The throwing of her arms sideways (laafyo tuurka), the twisting of her narrow waist line (dhex yar), and her gaze over he shoulders with her long neck (luqunteeda dheer), is as majestic as that of lion’s leisurely walk.
Many songs describe similar attributes observed by that British hunter. My own choice of near-perfect words that describe the way a fearless Somali beauty queen walks in the narrow streets of her peaceful neighborhood is thus (I used these lines in honor of the late Saado Ali):
Markay socoto talaabada, miisanka logu daray. Dadku waxay yidhaahdaan, may daarin ciidee. Daa-uus la moodyey.
It translates into English this way:
When she strolls elegantly, and measurably moves one leg at a time; People affirm with certainty, that she did not touch the ground but, only lightly pats the top soil like a peacock does.
As urbanism quickly spread throughout Somali speaking regions in the 1970s, the culture of dating the opposite sex (friendship with the other sex) became the norm in this entirely Muslim society. Songs of love that adored Somali women filled the airwaves in our urban milieu.
Read more: Sexual abuse and Secrets of AMISOM By Faisal
Faisal Roble
Email: [email protected]
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