{"id":3438,"date":"2019-08-27T22:17:42","date_gmt":"2019-08-27T22:17:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/?p=3438"},"modified":"2019-08-29T08:41:07","modified_gmt":"2019-08-29T08:41:07","slug":"female-domestic-workers-from-mogadishu-idp-camps-suffer-rape-by-city-employers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/2019\/08\/27\/female-domestic-workers-from-mogadishu-idp-camps-suffer-rape-by-city-employers\/","title":{"rendered":"Female domestic workers from Mog. IDP camps suffer rape by city employers"},"content":{"rendered":"

MOGADISHU (SoOHA) –<\/strong> <\/span>Radio Ergo\u2019s IDP Camp series this week looks at the threat of rape and sexual violence facing women living in the camps, who are\u00a0forced to take casual domestic jobs\u00a0such as washing clothes\u00a0to earn a living. Our local reporter met two women in\u00a0a\u00a0camp in Mogadishu who\u00a0shared their stories of being raped by\u00a0employers.<\/p>\n

Kaltumo<\/span>\u00a0Abikar<\/span>\u00a0(<\/span>not her real name<\/span>)<\/span>\u00a0has\u00a0<\/span>been raped on two\u00a0<\/span>separate\u00a0<\/span>occasions\u00a0<\/span>this year while seeking<\/span>\u00a0domestic work in\u00a0<\/span>houses<\/span>\u00a0in\u00a0<\/span>Mogadishu.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0<\/span>single\u00a0<\/span>mother of six,\u00a0<\/span>who\u00a0<\/span>lives in\u00a0<\/span>Dan\u00a0<\/span>iyo<\/span>\u00a0Da\u2019ad<\/span>\u00a0camp,\u00a0<\/span>has<\/span>\u00a0been\u00a0<\/span>displaced for\u00a0<\/span>10<\/span>years<\/span>. As the sole provider for her family, she\u00a0<\/span>takes on\u00a0<\/span>casual work washing clothe<\/span>s<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kaltumo<\/span>\u00a0descried to Radio Ergo\u2019s local reporter how she\u00a0<\/span>left home\u00a0<\/span>looking for work<\/span>\u00a0one morning in January and met a man i<\/span>n the<\/span>\u00a0suburbs\u00a0<\/span>of\u00a0<\/span>Mogadishu<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0wh<\/span>o told her that he was looking for someone\u00a0<\/span>to wash his clothes<\/span>\u00a0at his house.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She accepted the\u00a0<\/span>job<\/span>\u00a0offer\u00a0<\/span>and went\u00a0<\/span>with the man\u00a0<\/span>to<\/span>\u00a0his home<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0where\u00a0<\/span>he raped her<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Kaltumo<\/span>\u00a0was pregnant at the time.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>I\u00a0<\/span>got in<\/span>to<\/span>\u00a0his car to\u00a0<\/span>drive<\/span>\u00a0to\u00a0<\/span>his ho<\/span>use<\/span>\u00a0but inste<\/span>ad\u00a0<\/span>of going there\u00a0<\/span>he drove towards the bush and the<\/span>n<\/span>\u00a0stopped and told me\u00a0<\/span>he wan<\/span>ted<\/span>\u00a0me<\/span>, he didn\u2019t want\u00a0<\/span>his clothes washed<\/span>,\u201d said\u00a0<\/span>Kaltu<\/span>mo<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She\u00a0<\/span>struggled and\u00a0<\/span>pleaded\u00a0<\/span>with\u00a0<\/span>the man<\/span>\u00a0to no effect.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u201cHe told<\/span>\u00a0me<\/span>\u00a0to keep quiet and he did what he wanted<\/span>,<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0she said.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

T<\/span>wo month<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0later<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>when<\/span>\u00a0she\u00a0<\/span>was eight months into her\u00a0<\/span>pregnancy, she<\/span>\u00a0was raped again in<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Odwey<\/span>ne<\/span>\u00a0neighborhood<\/span>\u00a0whilst looking for work.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>A man opened the<\/span>\u00a0door and told me he want<\/span>ed<\/span>\u00a0someone to wa<\/span>sh his clothes. He told me to\u00a0<\/span>come\u00a0<\/span>in\u00a0<\/span>to<\/span>\u00a0negotiate with him over the price<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0but<\/span>\u00a0when I went<\/span>\u00a0in he closed the door behind me and told\u00a0<\/span>me he wanted\u00a0<\/span>me<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0I tried to resist but he\u00a0<\/span>raped me,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>Kaltumo<\/span>said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kaltumo<\/span>\u00a0says she<\/span>\u00a0did not report<\/span>\u00a0the incident to the authorities\u00a0<\/span>as she did not think anyone\u00a0<\/span>would listen to her\u00a0<\/span>story and did not believe she\u00a0<\/span>would not get any justice.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>I feared<\/span>\u00a0I\u00a0<\/span>would<\/span>\u00a0be insulted and accused of\u00a0<\/span>being the cause of it<\/span>,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Another victim,\u00a0<\/span>Ruqiyo<\/span>\u00a0Hamud<\/span>\u00a0(not her real<\/span>\u00a0name<\/span>)<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0who\u00a0<\/span>lives\u00a0<\/span>in the\u00a0<\/span>same camp\u00a0<\/span>as<\/span>Kaltumo<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>described to Radio Ergo how she\u00a0<\/span>was raped at gunpoint two years ago\u00a0<\/span>by a man she was working fo<\/span>r<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI<\/span>\u00a0was washing<\/span>\u00a0clothes<\/span>\u00a0for him.\u00a0<\/span>H<\/span>e came\u00a0<\/span>up\u00a0<\/span>from behind<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>f<\/span>orced me<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>H<\/span>e had\u00a0<\/span>a gun\u00a0<\/span>in<\/span>\u00a0his house and\u00a0<\/span>he was pointing it\u00a0<\/span>at me<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0telling<\/span>\u00a0me to\u00a0<\/span>comply<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0So what could I do?\u201d\u00a0<\/span>said<\/span>\u00a0Ruqiyo<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ruqiyo<\/span>\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0family were farmers living in\u00a0<\/span>Qoryooley<\/span>\u00a0on Lower Shabelle region. When conflict erupted in\u00a0<\/span>the town<\/span>\u00a0in which her son was killed they fled to Mogadishu.\u00a0<\/span>She now takes care of her grandchildren.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Maryan<\/span>\u00a0Taqal<\/span>\u00a0Hussein, a<\/span>\u00a0h<\/span>uman rights\u00a0<\/span>worker<\/span>\u00a0with the local NGO,\u00a0<\/span>Somali W<\/span>omen<\/span>\u2019s<\/span>Development Centre (SWDC)<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0confirmed th<\/span>at there were many cases of rape affecting displaced women in the camps in Mogadishu.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These women, often the only income earners for families, are forced to go out alone looking for work and are vulnerable to exploitation in many ways.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Maryan<\/span>\u00a0said\u00a0<\/span>women\u00a0<\/span>in the\u00a0<\/span>camps also face\u00a0<\/span>bullying, exploitation and\u00a0<\/span>false allegations<\/span>\u00a0of theft by\u00a0<\/span>domestic employers. Women are frequently denied payment after carrying out casual jobs.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to\u00a0<\/span>Maryan<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>SWDC<\/span>\u00a0has filed a number of cases in court on behalf of such women<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0but the cases\u00a0<\/span>are usually dropped\u00a0<\/span>as the victims\u00a0<\/span>are not able to spend time on court cases that drag on for weeks.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese women are the breadwinners of their families so it\u00a0<\/span>is\u00a0<\/span>hard for them to take part until the cases are concluded,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source: Radio Ergo\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MOGADISHU (SoOHA) – Radio Ergo\u2019s IDP Camp series this week looks at the threat of rape and sexual violence facing women living in the camps, who are\u00a0forced to take casual domestic jobs\u00a0such as washing clothes\u00a0to earn a living. Our local reporter met two women in\u00a0a\u00a0camp in Mogadishu who\u00a0shared their stories of being raped by\u00a0employers. Kaltumo\u00a0Abikar\u00a0(not …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,1,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-displacement-and-asylum","category-news","category-shelter-nfis-cluster"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3438"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3444,"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3438\/revisions\/3444"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}