Women's eNews (https://womensenews.org/tag/somalia/)
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An Egyptian court ordered the Egyptian army on Dec. 27 to stop forced virginity tests on female detainees, Agence France Presse reported. The decision has been made months after the practice sparked a national outcry and stained the ruling military’s reputation.
A Somali woman in Kenya faces an arranged wedding knowing she could infect her husband with HIV-AIDS. She contracted the disease through unsafe anal sex to preserve her virginity.
In spite of Somalia’s worst humanitarian crisis in 18 years, almost 200 women are taking advantage of scholarships to attend university in an effort aimed at meeting one of the U.N.’s Millennium Development Goals.
Since the ouster of Somalia’s Islamic government, women have been caught in the crossfire. One woman who struggled with imams to keep a girls’ school open says freedom’s price came too dear.
In Galkayo, Somalia, girls and women separated from their clans know little safety: An 8-year-old was raped and her mother must keep working with the man who did it. Fourth in a series on African women and the rule of law.
As Millie Odhiambo joins a spirited effort to turn back Kenya’s Nov. 21 constitutional referendum, women struggling for greater political representation in Somalia take heart from her example. Seventh in a series on emerging female leaders in Africa.