ASAUK 2018

Possession of political power in Tropical Africa, as a rule, is associated with the leader - a man. This fact is especially important for Somalia where the questions of women's emancipation are often taken very painfully. The family and household sphere traditionally limited woman’s activity: her interests have been concentrated around the house and children. Numerous restrictions and taboo put women in the subordinated position to men: to fathers, husbands, sons and brothers

Somali writer Nuruddin Farah branded traditional marriage in Somalia as a form of exchange of gifts at which woman is the main gift. He always drew attention to the fact that the course of life of a woman in Somali society since the childhood was marked by the dominant influence of men, and criticized the notion that “woman must be submissive <...> that a good wife should not cry loudly when her husband beats her”[1].

In recent years, the social, economic, psychological status of a woman in Somalia has changed a little. Transformation of views of the Somalis on the social role of women mainly happens under the influence of the compatriots who have settled abroad. In emigration Somali women have found good chances of employment; role functions in families have changed and care of members of household (children, parents, husbands) almost completely has laid down on the shoulders of women.

Metamorphoses of this sort contributed to the emancipation of women, to the release from the bonds of the patriarchal community and to the involvement in social life. Education and the opportunity to earn money independently provided them with a certain degree of personal freedom. Such women don’t want to rely on the help and support of the men. However, the sphere of political activity for most of them remains inaccessible.

The political culture of Somalia is distinguished by patriarchal character. It is characterized by the perception of the ruler as the “father of the nation”, weak development of the structures of civil society, support on values of clan, close fusion of political interests with religious ones.

Ayaan Hirsi’s fate - the Somali who has become a deputy of the Parliament of the Netherlands - is indicative. She didn’t hide her critical attitude to the traditional views on the place of a woman in society and in 2004 she wrote a screenplay for the documentary “Submission”, which tells about the oppression of women in Islamic countries. Soon after the release of the movie, its creators were faced with indignation from the ardent adherents of Islam: the director Theo van Gogh was killed by an Islamic radical, A. Hirsi for a long time received numerous threats. The appeal to gender problems has turned into a threat to life.

The prejudice of the majority living under laws of traditional patriarchal society, and hostility of radical adherents of Islam expect the Somali women who want to take the leading positions in power. They exist on the verge of legal and unlawful, on the border of the conflict of traditional Islamic and western cultures therefore they are a constant target, provoking attacks to themselves from the men and women, Muslims and non-Muslims who criticize everything: education, gestures, views, clothes, statements.

A woman in power in Somalia is rather an exception than a rule. Marian Qasim Ahmed, who takes ministerial positions in the Somali government since 2009, thought that Somalia would be first “on the list of the most dangerous place to be a woman”[2]. The way to policy of the first woman – Prime Minister and then the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Somalia Fawzia Yusuf Haji Adan was thorny. Before she reached her high position, she had to overcome many obstacles: discrimination on the political stage, the arrest, the forced dissolution of the party she was leading. Another well-known Somali woman, Fadumo Dayib, who has proposed in 2016 her candidacy for president of Somalia hasn't sustained pressure and continuous threats and has refused to participate in a pre-election race.

Somali reality is cruel to women. They have to fight against prejudice and male chauvinism, to defend their rights. Using their capabilities, women respond to challenges arising from preconceptions and, in spite of the circumstances, try to take the feasible part in the reconstruction of Somalia and Somali society.