Somalia

In its annual report, the Human Rights Watch organization released on Tuesday blasts that Women and girls in Somalia face alarming levels of sexual violence throughout the country.

Rape and sexual violence pose a “constant threat” to women and children living in camps for displaced people in Somalia, Amnesty International said on Friday.

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.

Inside a brightly painted Mogadishu clinic, Salim (not her real name) sits alongside her seven-year-old son, waiting for a check up. Opposite them, a health professional listens to their nightmarish ordeal.

The speech of 16-year-old Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai at the United Nations this month has served as an inspiration for the fight for women's rights and girls' education in Somalia.

Last October, Yousafzai nearly died when Pakistani Taliban gunmen shot her in the head for advocating girls' rights to education. Instead of retreating in fear, Yousafzai increased her activism after the attack.

The Somali Ministry of Development and Social Affairs is drafting a bill that outlines a new gender policy for the country and safeguards women's rights, particularly in politics and education.

The proposed legislation is part of a wide-ranging government programme that aims to promote women's rights and support their access to education, health services and participation in governance.

In a classroom tucked away from the world in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, students practice spelling.

Ranging in age from 6 to 11, these girls all have one thing in common: They have either been raped or suffered through the rape of a loved one.

Even the 6-year-old is a rape survivor. The baby of the class, she can't quite keep up with the spelling lesson but is happy to clap along.

Asha Haji Elmi was born in Somalia in 1962 where she graduated from the Somali National University in Mogadishu. She e also holds a Master's degree in business administration from the International University of the United States.

The Somali government plans to move displaced people to more secure camps in the capital Mogadishu and set up military courts to tackle “rampant” rape, a senior United Nations official said Thursday.

The U.N. special representative on sexual violence in conflict, Zainab Hawa Bangura, said the government must also build confidence in the judicial system so that more women come forward to report rape.

Somalia's new government has to build a stronger and more transparent judicial system in order to prosecute perpetrators of sexual violence against women, according to a senior United Nations official. The call comes as Somali government officials, judges and diplomats deliberate on how to enhance the country's judiciary.