The Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Mr. Omar Sheikh Mohamed Faarah on Saturday revealed that the rape cases in Somaliland have reached an unacceptable level.
Minister Omar, speaking at the launch ceremony of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence held in Hargeisa, said 207 cases of rape have been documented in Somaliland in 2016 and that the majority of rapes took place in Hargeisa. The minister attributed the rising trend of rape to young evil gangsters and their parents whom he said are indifferent of their children’s misbehavior.
“We will not accept our girls to be raped everyday…we will not accept our girls to be afraid of going out of their homes for fear of rape” he said.
The Minister urged the House of Representatives of Somaliland to pass the Human Rights and Social Justice Bill.
Other notable guests participated and addressed in the launch ceremony of 16 Days of Activism included State Minister of Labour and Social Affiars Abdi Dahir Amoud, Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs Nour Osman Guleid, Director of Somaliland National Human Rights Commission Fathia Hussein Jahour and the Chairman of Somaliland National Disability Forum Noura Mohamoud Nour.
16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence is an international campaign to challenge violence against women and girls. The campaign runs every year from 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to 10 December, Human Rights Day. It was initiated in 1991 by the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute, held by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership at Rutgers University.
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