SOMALIA: 'Women Carry Axes' for Safety At Mogadishu's Liido Beach

Date: 
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Source: 
AllAfrica
Countries: 
Africa
Eastern Africa
Somalia
PeaceWomen Consolidated Themes: 
General Women, Peace and Security
Protection
Sexual and Gender-Based Violence

As Mogadishu's Liido beach became a popular spot, where young men and women are predominant during the holidays, women began last Friday to carry axes to the beach for protection, Garowe Online reports.

Photographic images taken from Liido resort beach shows women holding axes in their hands after young men commenced earlier last month to terribly offend the girls who come the beach to enjoy with their family members in the vicinity's buzzing and pulsating atmosphere.

One of the women who spoke to Mogadishu media near surf rolling onto white sand beach said the girls are offended and angered by "rude men" who try to sometimes harass them sexually and the men always seek to interact with the girls sometimes to the girls' dislike, the women reported.

Apart from the visiting young women, women also sell ice cream, cold drinks, bananas and home-baked bread at dunes' base to generate some profits for their businesses.

Following growing concerns about women's safety, Banadir regional administration deployed police forces to the resort to prevent any violent activities which could pose threats including rape to young women during the holidays.