The on going famine throughout Africa has begun to create more issues for women. Nadifa is a mother who lives in Somalia, stays in an internally displaced persons camp run by a militant terrorist group with her four children. One day she left her children in her hut to travel to find some food at a nearby camp. She waited for hours in hopes to get food, but came back with nothing. When she returned to the hut, a gunman was raping her 11 year old daughter. Despite her efforts to get the man off of her child whilst guarding the other children, no one came to her rescue. The militia came in and dragged Nadifa away to an abandoned building to beat and scorch her with burning plastic. There are many other stories like Nadifa's for single mothers throughout Africa. “For sexual predictors, famine and the resulting vulnerability equals opportunity, even in refugee camps with the heavy presence of international aid organizations and the United Nations”. This leads to women not wanting to leave their home in fear of the sexual predators, which limits the opportunity for women to go find resources for themselves and their families. The issue of sexual violence is being largely ignored in comparison to the famine.
The issue of famine is one concern that countries face, but there needs to be more awareness raised to the matter besides the need for food. The need for security for these women is essential for their human rights, but their lack of security is also interconnected with the famine. It is vital to raise awareness about the lack of security in order to help overcome the status of women. The fact that they feel unsafe going to get food or aid creates a crisis not only for the women, but also the children and other family members. In order to reverse this, there should be more of an urgency to solve the lack of security for women as well as the famine.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/oct/11/rape-somalia-women-famine
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