Somaliland elders approve ‘historic’ law criminalising rape
NAIROBI: Rapists in Somaliland face up to 20 years in jail after the break-away conservative Islamic region passed its first law against rape in a drive to combat gender violence, a senior official said on Monday.
The bi l l , which pa s s ed parliament’s upper house on Saturday, also criminalises other forms of gender violence such as forced marriage, trafficking for sexual slavery and sexual harassment.
Ayan Mahamoud, Somaliland’s representative in Britain, said the draft law had been awaiting parliamentary approval for years - and that President Musa Bihi Abdi’s government, which was elected in November, saw curbing sex crimes as a priority.
“This really is a historic law for Somaliland. For the first time potential rapists will be scared that they will be punished and end up in jail for years,” Mahamoud told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone from London.
“It also means that survivors can get at last seek redressal and have access to justice, instead of being forced to marry their rapists to save the so- called family honour.”
The bill was passed by the lower house in January.
Mahamoud said it was expected to be signed into law by Abdi in the coming weeks.
Until now rape was not defined as a crime in Somaliland, a selfdeclared republic in the Horn of Africa.
That meant perpetrators faced no penalty. Victims’ families were instead paid off or the victim was forced to marry her rapist to avoid public shame. – Reuters