Alyson Johnson Research Paper Girls Empower through mentoring

Abstract Many problems are faced by Somali women such as hunger, famine, limited access to clean drinking water, and conflict. However, a very monumental problem is the 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. There are also many mentoring programs in place that help women and children that have been through similar circumstances in the United States. These organizations include: The Joyful Heart Foundation, Sanctuary for Families, Safe Horizon, Utah County Childrens Justice Center, and The Center for Women and Children in Crisis. The mentoring program that will be created as an outcome of the CAPSTONE project will be partnered with Sister Somalia. This mentoring program will connect an 11th or 12th grade girl from Glen Allen High School or other local high school with a girl at the Sister Somalia organization in Somalia. The girl from Glen Allen will serve as a mentor and write letters to their mentee in Somalia. They will also have the job of raising awareness of the issues Somali women face. This mentoring program will be a stride in the direction to bring equal rights to all Somali women.

Somali women face many problems such as hunger, famine, limited access to clean drinking water, and conflict on a daily basis. However, the main issue, and the one addressed by this research paper is the explosion in the number of sexual abuse and rape cases in Somalia. This number has continued to rise over the years and unfortunately there is no end in sight. It has quickly become a normal occurrence for this society. 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, help victims of rape and sexual abuse feel better about themselves, and give them the tools to move forward and be productive members of society. The mentoring program that will be developed, due to all of this research, will be an extension of the preexisting Sister Somalia organization. This larger organization will help women who have been victims of rape to see and achieve a brighter future. Mentors from the United States will partner with mentees from Sister Somalia and create a strong, steadfast relationship. 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. As stated above, sexual abuse and rape cases are on the rise. Not only is the number of cases going up but so is the severity of the cases. This being said there is no end in sight and there are very few organizations that aid the Somali women that have been victims of rape or sexual abuse. Lisa Shannon from The Guardian stated that Somalia's dramatically escalating sexual violence is going largely ignored. Not only is this statistic growing rapidly, but it is being disregarded. The government in Somalia is doing next to nothing to decrease this statistic and at times its actions actually contribute to the statistic. This statement will be explored at length later in this

research paper. Other factors such as hunger, drought, war, and female genital mutilation have also led to Somalia receiving this title as the fifth worst country in the entire world to live. 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 and have access to. Somali women are not informed of the risks and consequences of all of these problems. They are usually blindsided and suffer from the consequences, both mentally and physically. That being said, the main issue at the focus of this research paper and that needs to be solved is the cases of rape and sexual abuse. Zam Zam Adbullahi (2009), a human rights activist in Somalia also explains that education is the main object that Somali women lack. Adbullahi advises:

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 rather low, The Human Rights Watch (2014) explains that 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 there is 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 these Somali women face on a daily basis will be put to an end. Albadri, from The Guardian, said domestic violence, constant fear of rape, lack of healthcare and basic needs and cultural inferiority are the reality for women in Somalia. It is not exactly known as to how many rape and sexual abuse cases Somalia sees each year due to the lack of information reported. Many women dont come forward after they have been raped due to the many negative side effects they will have to face if they do. Rape and sexual abuse victims are typically shunned in society and will rarely find a husband and will end up being treated inhumanely. Women are looked down upon if they report being raped or sexually abused so they typically just deal with the consequences of rape or sexual abuse individually. This quiet suffering has to come to an end. This being said, although the actual statistic is not known, Hamza Mohamed wrote in an article that representatives from non-governmental organizations - who asked to remain nameless to protect themselves from retribution - say thousands of women are raped in Somalia every year. According to Mahad Diriye who has visited Somalia on a few occasions, other organizations have reported that rape cases range from 13-28 per day with many other rape cases gone unreported due to the fear of further reprisal assaults and prospects of community stigmatization. That number is staggering for such a small country with no way to decrease this number. There are very few organizations in Somalia that aid women who have been victims of rape due to the risk involved. Many organizations have been shut down and the people in charge run out of Somalia due to the government. The government in Somalia is extremely unstable and does not agree with womens rights in any capacity. The government is mainly controlled by

Somali men. This does nothing to help as womens rights are far from their agenda of things to pass and get done. After dealing with many years of war and crime and the lasting effects that come from those, the government does not have the means or resources to even delve into womens rights. Also, women tend to get prosecuted or assaulted if they report a rape case to the police or authority figures, so many end up keeping to themselves and not seeking outside help. Another problem is the fact that many times the men that are raping the women are the ones that wear the governmental uniforms. Many of the rape or sexual abuse cases that have been reported in Somalia have been carried out by men that are one way or another affiliated with the government. In a report in The Truth Meter, by Mahad Diriye (2013), one woman reported that she was raped by four armed men, two among them, security guards, stood at my door and ordered me to keep quiet. They all had uniforms, rapped me alternating one by one and lastly threatened to kill if I disclose the rape incident. In that case, governmental officials were involved and they threatened harm if the woman reported them so she ended up being quite helpless. In an article by Mohamed Abdiwahab, another woman said she had been stopped on the streets of Mogadishu by three soldiers from the national army, blindfolded and forced into a car, before being handed over to African Union troops, where she says she was repeatedly raped. Tres Thomas (2013) said in his article On 9 December 2013, the Banadir regional court in Mogadishu sentenced a female journalist to house arrest as part of a six month suspended sentence on charges of defamation and lying after she claimed in an interview that she was raped by two government radio journalists. These women need support and education to put an end to this atrocity. One lady in Somalia attempted to report the men that raped her but ended up being prosecuted herself. In the Guardian, Lul Ali Osman Barakes story was explained.

In February, Lul Ali Osman Barake made headlines when she reported her rape at the hands of men she says were government soldiers. They took turns raping her, she told CNN, only stopping when they thought she was dead. But when she reported the crime, it was Barake who was arrested and convicted of defaming a government institution. At times Somalia has even been without a government and the one they have now is extremely fragile. All of these previously mentioned incidents show how fragile the government actually is and how corrupt it is. The government workers dont even have any regard for the women in the country. 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 explained 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. Sister Somalia offers phone counseling sessions, access to medical care, emergency grants for resettlement, business starter kits, a letter from a foreign sister, and job opportunities. The letter from a foreign sister is something that this mentoring program would build on. The organization already connects two girls from different countries with the distribution of the letter but the connection stops there. There is no continuation of the connection and the two dont hear from each other ever again. With the addition of a mentoring program, a girl from Somalia and a girl from the United States would be connected through a string of letters. The previously

mentioned organizations, although reaching and helping many women, have so much more potential but cant do anything about it due to the government. The only way to hear about these organizations is through word-of-mouth. There are no signs, no advertisements, and the system is thought of as an underground one. These are the three main organizations of Somalia. It is so difficult to maintain an organization that helps rape and sexual abuse victims due to the state of the government that only these three have survived and prospered. Many mentoring programs have been put into place throughout the United States and even the world to help with people that have dealt with similar circumstances such as abuse, depression, and assault. The organizations in the United States have had a greater success rate and there are an abundance of them due to the support they receive from the government. These organizations have been successful in the aspects of helping to rebuild peoples lives and bring awareness to the issue or issues at hand. 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. The people at this organization help youth, who have faced extreme circumstances at a young age, restore hope and look forward to a more positive future. They do this through focusing on eliminating poverty and creating programs that provide stability, livability, and prosperity for the children of both Canada and Ghana. The goal of The Hands of a Hero Foundation is to empower and motivate the youth of Canada and Ghana and then hopefully spread to other struggling youth from there. Mentors in this program work closely with the children of Ghana and Canada to provide a positive relationship and someone to look up to and model. There are many other organizations throughout the country that deal with victims of similar situations. Many of the victims that pass through these organizations have been victims

of sexual abuse, domestic violence, or a similar circumstance. These organizations help the victims and sometimes their families to get back up on their feet and to realize that there is a better tomorrow. Some of these organizations include but are not limited to: The Joyful Heart Foundation, Sanctuary for Families, Safe Horizon, Utah County Childrens Justice Center, and The Center for Women and Children in Crisis. The Joyful Heart Foundation focuses on healing and wellness, education and awareness, and policy and advocacy. They focus on victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence. The workers at The Joyful Heart Foundation serve as mentors to the victims and help build a positive, trustworthy relationship that the victims can always look to. Sanctuary for Families focuses on the empowerment of women that arent clients and the support of existing clients. Their other focus is to help women who have been victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence. The people at Sanctuary for Families aim to educate, support clients, advocate for legal changes, and empower women. Like the previous organization, the workers at Sanctuary for Families, serve as mentors for women and their families. Safe Horizon provides in-person counseling, legal services, and shelter for those that have been affected by crime and abuse. Though there are many aspects of this organization, one large aspect is the mentoring program. Safe Horizon pairs up a worker and a victim to resemble a mentor and a mentee. Utah County Childrens Justice Center provides mentoring for children that have been through abuse and other related situations. The main goal of this organization is to help children who have been victims cope and rebuild their lives. The professionals at this organization serve as mentors to these struggling children. The final mentoring program, The Center for Women and Children in Crisis, is an organization that aids women and their children that have been abused. This organization provides services such as counseling, shelter, group therapy, educational classes, advocacy, and medical and legal services. All of these organizations

yield mentors that help those that have been victims of abuse or assault in some way or another. The mentors are someone that the mentee can rely on and look to when faced with difficult situations or decisions or sometimes just someone they can talk to about everyday life. Almost all of these organizations also advocate and raise awareness for the issue that their clients are affected by. After researching many different organizations, the information found has helped to create a mentoring program that will be implemented for girls in Somalia. This mentoring program will be connected to a preexisting organization in Somalia, previously mentioned, Sister Somalia. Sister Somalia is a well-established program in Mogadishu which is the capital of Somalia. Somali women are already aware of this program and since it is extremely challenging to get information out to the women of Somalia, it would be most knowledgeable to partner with a preexisting program. This program has already rebuilt over 2,000 womens lives and has the potential to touch so many more. There would be two aspects of this program, the one that provides medical assistance, job opportunities, and grants for resettlement and then the mentoring aspect of it. By adding a mentoring aspect to the already established program, women will be able to connect with other women their same age outside of Somalia. The mentor and mentee would be able to build a strong and reliable relationship. The mentee will always be able to go to the mentor for advice and for a role model. The mentoring program would be available to 11th and 12th grade girls at Glen Allen High School. There would be informational meetings held by counseling to explain what the mentoring program is and how to get involved with it. If girls want to participate, they have to fill out an application and return it to the counseling office. The number of girls participating in the mentoring program, on both ends, would determine how the mentoring program would spread from there. If there was a larger number of mentees than

mentors, the program would be spread to local high schools that wanted to participate and hopefully continue to spread from there. After a couple of years, the program will, hopefully, be big enough to involve numerous female students from multiple high schools from around the area. There would be an application process for girls in the United States, more specifically, Glen Allen, that have an interest in participating. These applications would be distributed through the counseling office and would be returned to the same office. The application would consist of personal information (Full name, date of birth, phone number, and email address), hobbies/personal interests, questions about why one wants to become a mentor, what one has to offer as a mentor, what one wants to gain from the experience, and any previous experience with mentoring. All of these would be short answer and the questions should be answered thoroughly with quality responses. The application would be detailed but not too detailed in order to find out who was really interested in the program and who wasnt. A sponsor of the mentoring program, which worked in the counseling office, would read through the applications and determine which girls were adequate candidates to be mentors. A representative from Sister Somalia would organize the mentees in Somalia. The two sponsors would collaborate and pair girls up. Each girl would then be paired up with a girl from Somalia and serve as their mentor. The main avenue of correspondence would happen through written letters. The mentor would serve as a pen pal and a person that could bring positivity and happiness to their mentees life. This letter would give the mentee and even hopefully the mentor something positive and uplifting to look forward to. It would also be the mentors job to raise awareness at home. They would work on projects with fellow mentors to help bring awareness about the issues that that Somali women face on a daily basis. Organizations like these will bring

awareness about the issue and hopefully, eventually put an end to the problems that Somali women face. Somalia is a very hard place to live for women. Abukar Albadri from The Guardian talked to many women in Somalia and got just a small glimpse of the struggles they face on a daily basis. No woman in Somalia is happy to be a woman because, from the cradle to the grave, woman is a victim. The domestic violence, the raping, killing and kidnapping of women is part of the daily life, and there is no authority standing to stop this. Although women in 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. Although Somali women are faced with many horrific issues, a very monumental problem is the large increase in the number of sexual abuse and rape cases. As talked about previously, 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. These organizations are in place to get victims back up on their feet and to empower other women so the same does not happen to them. There are also many mentoring programs in place that help women and children that have been through similar circumstances in the United States. These organizations are effective in the way of building strong and lasting relationships with children and victims of issues similar to sexual abuse. The mentoring program that will be created as an outcome of the CAPSTONE project will be an extension of Sister Somalia. This mentoring program will connect an 11th or 12th grade girl from Glen Allen High School with a girl at the Sister Somalia organization in Somalia. The girl from Glen Allen will serve as a mentor and write encouraging letters to their mentee in Somalia. They will also have the job of raising

awareness of the issues Somali women face. This program will, hopefully, make a stride in eliminating the daily struggles that Somali women face. Through this program, Somali women will become educated and will be able to in turn educate and help their friends and relatives out. Through one small step like this organization, a large stride will be made towards world-wide equality for women.

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-rapeepidemic Birago, P.(2013). Hands of a hero foundation. Retrieved from http://handsofahero.org

Diriye, M. (2013). The truth meter. Retrieved from http://truthmeter.net/index.php/refugees-human/91-rape-in-idps-remain-conspiracy-insomalia Dyer, A. (2013). Utah county childrens justice center. Retrieved from http://www.unitedwayucv.org/org/programs/1623473.html

Elmi, H. A. (2013). Save somali women and children. Retrieved from http://www.sswc-som.com/newsite/index.php/home/about-us Gates, R. (2013) Center for women and children in crisis. Retrieved from http://www.unitedwayucv.org/org/programs/1418374.html 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-rapesof-women-and-girls.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1& Parrish, S. (2014). Safe horizon. Retrieved from http://www.safehorizon.org/index/about-us-1.html

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-hellworst-world Zambuto, M. (2014) Joyful heart foundation. Retrieved from http://www.joyfulheartfoundation.org/?gclid=CNyqzr-urr0CFYN0OgodjigAvg (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

(2013). Sanctuary for families. Retrieved from http://www.sanctuaryforfamilies.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13 6&Itemid=158 (2009, January 20). Struggling for womens rights in somalia. Amnesty International. Retrieved from https://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/feature-stories/struggling-womensrights-somalia-20090120