I like to voice my opinion on matters I am confident I know enough of.
Rape in my homeland is not one of them. I have been observing the way social media, and Somali tweeps in particular, have dissected the story of the alleged Somali rape victim and the freelance journalist who interviewed her. Like everything in our Somali society, the opinions on this case differ extremely.
Any sane-minded human would question why a woman claiming to be raped would face prison for coming forward with her story. My stomach hurts when I think of that woman, who to my knowledge remains nameless in the media. It takes immense courage to speak of rape in a Muslim, patriarchal society, let alone openly come forth and seek to achieve justice. Today's verdict was based on a medical examination that proved that the woman was not raped. Even in a country like Somalia, where medical standards of practice are low, detecting whether or not a woman has been raped should be a task any medical practitioner can carry out. Right?
One has to wonder, why the government would claim the story is fabricated when we all know that rape is becoming increasingly common in Somalia, whether we want to acknowledge this fact or not. Then again, why would the Somali government launch a human rights task force the same day of the verdict? Lets not forget that the basis of the Somali national legislation is the Sharia law and that rape is unacceptable. If a court acknowledges the fact that a woman has been raped, she is blameless and the rapist would be punished accordingly. Doesn't this make you think that the Somali judiciary might be right? Keep in mind that a couple of weeks ago two soldiers who were found guilty of rape were executed according to Sharia law.
With the little time it has been in place, the government seems to be taking a tough stance against rape.
As media consumers it is our right to form and opinion of what happens around us. We should never allow someone to spoon feed us with information they think is right. Im still forming my opinion on this case but at least it aloud me to think for myself. I suggest you do too.
