GENDER EQUALITY: PSYCHO-SOCIAL PERSPECTIVES ON GIRLS’ EDUCATION
IN SOMALIA.
By
FARHIA ABDI
Integrated Studies Project
Submitted to Dr. Angela Specht
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Arts – Integrated Studies
Athabasca, Alberta
October, 2015
Table of Contents
Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………...3
Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………….4
Introduction…………………………………………………………………..5-8
Methodology…………………………………………………………………..9
PART ONE: Historical Preview of Somali Culture & Education Stages
A) Pre-colonial Era…………………………………………………….10-12
B) Colonial Era……………………………………………………… 13-14
C) Post-Independence………………………………………………….15-18
PART TWO: Cultural and religious interconnectedness with access and the constraints to
gender biased education…………………………………………………………19-27
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………….....28-29
Recommendations………………………………………………………………30-32
References……………………………………………………………………...33-38
Gender Equality: Psycho-Social Perspectives on Girls’ Education in Somali.
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Abstract:
Cultural practices and religious conditions inform the social norms, politics, and
bureaucratic frameworks that Somali women must negotiate to achieve their respective
educational goals. The available literature regarding Somalia’s educational conditions indicate
high illiteracy rates, especially among women due to gendered education that discriminates
against women and girls. Part one of this study examines the context of pre-colonial, colonial
and post-independence conditions and how these influenced Somalia’s cultural and educational
practices. Given the complex conditions that restrict Somali women’s ability to access
education, part two of this thesis investigates which cultural and religious conditions are
intertwined with access and also serve as constraints to gender biased education. Strategic
educational interventions could help women to achieve greater equality; therefore, this thesis
searches for potential solutions to enable female education in Somalia.
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Acknowledgment:
I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Angela
Specht, whose expertise, understanding, and patience, added considerably to my graduate
experience. I appreciate her vast knowledge and skill in many areas (e.g., education, governance
and culture), and her assistance in supporting some of my own published articles. Dr. Specht's
support in every aspect of my academic growth has motivated me to continue with my education
endeavor.
I would also like to thank MAIS office staff, in particular, Janice Day, whose support
and quick responses to my inquiries greatly helped in facilitating my work.
Very special thanks go out to my friends and colleague Kon Madut and Abdirizak Karod
whose support and guidance early on my study gave me the motivation and the strength I
needed. I appreciate their enthusiasm, and I owe them my eternal gratitude.
Finally, I would also like to thank my beautiful children Aman and Hanad Adan without
whose love, encouragement and support I would not have finished this project. They are my
guiding-light, and I love them very much. I would like to extend my gratitude to my sister Laila
Abdi who has been my rock, and who made it easier for me to continue with my dreams. She has
always been there for me, especially when I needed her the most and for that I am grateful.
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Introduction
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”.
Nelson Mandela
Literacy is considered a key foundation for sustainable development, thus it has a
significant influence for building individual and community capacity as well as reducing
poverty. Scholars have cited that literature has a potential to empower, enrich and enlighten
people who are powerless, and in doing so, it enhances the dignity of human beings. The concept
of the right to education has long been established and revised in international conventions and
declarations like: Convention on the Rights of the Child (UN, 28, UNICEF, 49) and the United
Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN, 26). Indeed Africa set continental
education targets, amongst others, to achieve Universal Basic Education [UBE] by 1980 at a
1961 conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (UNESCO, Ch.1, 3). These conventions and
declarations illustrate that there is an understanding around the world that education is
indispensable for the elimination of illiteracy and elevating nations and populations out of
poverty. Overall, according to Jandhyala B. G.Tilak however,
World enrolments in all levels of education increased five-fold, from about 227
million in 1950 to 1.1 billion by 1995. The number of adult literates in the world
trebled from 1.1 billion in 1960 to above three billion in 1995. More than 60 per
cent of the world population in the age group 6-24 is currently in schools and
colleges, as compared to the one-fourth who were in schools about four decades
ago. The number of teachers increased by 6.6 times from 7.9 million in 1950 to
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52.3 million in 1995. Public expenditure on education increased by about 24 times
from $54 billion in 1960 to $1.3 trillion (in current prices) in 1994 (223).
Nevertheless, how education is deployed and dealt with is very differently on each continent and
indeed in each country. Though Tilak’s study does not address gender inequality extensively, it
does illustrate that in Asia women are lacking behind men in education. Gender inequality in
Africa’s education system, particularly in Somalia may show greater variation as education is
gendered and largely practices along traditional lines. For example, “women’s secret associations
and the homestead were the means through which societies ensured the successful transmission
of its values and traditions to girls and young women, and graduation was almost nearly a
guarantee” (Falola and Amponsah, 101).
Somalia is located in North-Eastern Africa and has a population of about 8 to 10 million
people. Somalia was colonized by a series of European imperialists: the British, Italians, and
French. The North of Somalia gained its independence on June 26, 1960. Five days later, July 1st,
it merged with the South, forming the Somali Republic. In ethnic terms, scholars like Lee
Cassanelli, I. M. Lewis, Nina J. Fitzgerald, and David D. Laitin considered Somalis as a
homogeneous society. Scholars believe Somali people share the same culture, language,
religion, and are divided along clan lines. A majority of Somalis are described as a nomadic
pastoral society whose “politics lie in kinship and are composed of men who trace descent
through a common male ancestor from whom they take their corporate name” (Lewis 4).
Furthermore, in terms of religion, Somalis are 99.9% Muslim Sunni, which have strong ties with
the Islamic world in Africa and Arabia.
Although there are no consensuses, some scholars believe Somalis have Arabian and
African mix heritage. However, the British Anthropologist I.M. Lewis (5) believes, “Somali
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genealogies go back to Arabian origins, to the Prophet Mohamed’s lineage of Quraysh and those
of his companions. Yet, they do not think of themselves as Arabs, except in religion, as culturally
Arabian” (Lewis, 4). U.S. Department of State: Bureau of African Affairs adds more holistic
view on Somalia’s history:
Today, about 60% of all Somalis are nomadic or semi-nomadic pastoralists who
raise cattle, camels, sheep, and goats. About 25% of the population is settled
farmers who live mainly in the fertile agricultural zone between the Juba and
Shabelle Rivers in southern Somalia. The remainder of the population (15% 20%) is urban. Sizable ethnic groups in the country include Bantu agricultural
workers, several thousand Arabs and some hundreds of Indians and Pakistanis
which all speak Somali Language (2008, N.pag).
Somalia’s education system is relatively informal. Communal interaction does predate
the colonial era, and is required to be studied within its cultural context. In the pre-colonial era,
education was mostly based in Islamic (Koran) teaching that was fairly instructed to both
genders, but boys were often given more attention and priority. Daphne Williams Ntiri explains,
“Traditionally, Koranic education started twelve centuries ago and catered mostly to
men…Women's educational needs were left largely unaddressed” (Ntiri, 1). However, during the
colonial era (mid-late19th century), British and Italian colonizers slowly and steadily established
formal programs of learning, and though the education system “differed and tremendous efforts
had to be expended in later years to integrate both systems for national use” (Ntiri, 2).
Colonial education teachings were negligible and it was oriented toward meeting the
basic needs of the colonizers, particularly in communication and other duties that were required
for maintaining the order of the colony, whether it is translating the local language,
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communicating with the community, or office duties. As Mudimbe and Bayart suggested,
“colonial educations were limited in scope and were essentially designed for the purposes of
social and economic motives of colonialism in Africa, which have been presented through
history in different versions” (Mudimbe, 88, Bayart, 93).
The traditional Somali education was favourable to the relative benefit of the
socioeconomic development of its people. After independence in 1960, Somalia’s education
sector developed very quickly especially under the military coup of Mohamed Siyad Bare in
1969, and indeed it made some improvement on women’s education and gender equality.
However, with the collapse of the Somali state in 1991, all education institutions and learning
materials within the country were destroyed by the civil war, and Somalia has since been as
Cassanelli & Abdikadir put it a “country without any unified formal programs of education, and
this civil strife has put women’s education into an even more dismal context” (10). Somalia’s
patriarch and lineage based traditions and practices hinder women’s participation in education,
economics, politics, and decision-making processes.
In order to examine how Somalia’s culture and religion create barriers and constraints to
gender education as well as to seek potential solutions, this project addresses the following
questions: To what extent does gender shape access to quality and equitable education for
women in Somalia? How do culture, tradition, customs, and religion operate in fostering
assumptions of a gender divide? Relatedly, how do social expectations (both for females and
males) either hinder or help to shrink the gender gap? Given the above questions, how do we best
address the conditions and mechanisms that hinder girls and women’s education? How do we
help to improve female access to education?
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Research Method:
In this research, I conduct an interdisciplinary project that studies and analyzes the
practice of gender education in Somalia. This research is based in a review of literature that
includes readings from historical materials, governmental documents, and scholarly
examinations. I use Discourse Analysis as a method to critically analyze these texts. The
discourse analysis explores how socio-cultural perceptions in Somalia hinder women’s progress
and representation within both basic and higher-education systems. The term discourse analysis
according to James A. Holstein and Jaber F. Gubrium is best understood as an “umbrella
designation for a rapidly growing field of research covering a wide range of different theoretical
approaches and analytic emphases” (Holstein, Gubrium, 1).
This research is expected to contribute to academic literature around gender inequity in
education and particularly on how gender inequity shapes and limits the kind, quality, and access
to education available to women in Somalia. There is very little literature on this subject, and this
scholarly research contributes toward growing that literature, inspiring future research, and aid in
future policy development for educational accessibility for women and girls in Somalia. The
discourse analysis and anti-oppressive education approaches add extra perspectives to women’s
education in Somalia, in that they seek to empower and aid those very women.
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PART ONE: Historical Preview of Somali Culture & Education Stages.
Pre-Colonial Education Prior to 1839
In 1800s Somalia was the trading hub for Arabian and Indian travelers, but it had it is
own internal culture, practices and laws that were unique and constant. Pre-colonial Somali
society consisted of small states, porous and not demarcated. Though, there were local variations
within different areas, by and large, the broad principles in all the various systems were the
same. Even under the country’s scarred and officially ungoverned system, some cities were still
the centre of agricultural production and trade as well as acted as informal centres of governance.
According to Lidwien Kapteijns and Maryan Boqor, cities like Zeila, Harar, Mogadishu, Afgoye,
and Brava served as trade and agricultural production networks. Each city acted as a kind of citystate that was ruled either by a sultan, emir, or by a group of elders (107). The community
leaders (boqor, sultan, emir, or elders) managed their respective communities by creating codes
of conduct to which the whole community and even those from outside of the community
adhered; these rules functioned as a system of governance in pre-colonial era. I.M. Lewis
pointed out that in pre-colonial Somalia “the people were not without government or political
institutions” (3).
In the African context, education in pre-colonial tradition was very different and
considered by some as more suitable than those of or following the colonial era. Muna Ndula,
believes “the pre-colonial law in most African states was essentially customary in character,
having its sources in the practices and customs of the people…there is broad agreement that in its
present form customary law is distorted, and it is influenced by the recent interaction between
African custom and colonial rule” (88). Pre-colonial Somali culture was based on communal
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and cohesive cultural values; however, this learned social cohesion was intended as a passage
from elder generation to transfer knowledge and experiences to the younger generation in order
to promulgate the community’s culture and values. As Somalia is a patrilineal society, boys are
mainly the receivers of such a passage. Knowledge includes: social interconnectivity, such as
clan affiliation, methods of social cohesion, responsibility and skills of both war and peacetimes. This kind of traditional teaching by elders is known as ‘Xeer’ and it is a form of
communal law with set of rules.
Saciid Ismail Samatar argues, “Xeer is a socially constructed organizational system to
safeguard security and social justice within and among Somali communities, with other values
being added as the people of the region embraced Islam in the eighth century” (630). In addition,
not only is the ‘Xeer’ as Samatar puts it, an “organized system to safe guard security and social
justice” (630), but it is also a method for elders or the communities’ wise men to observe the
quality of young boys specially in the area of mental capacity and endurance which will then
determine the boys’ future leadership credentials. Once suitable boys are found, elders groom
them for leadership roles. However, there are different methods of education for pupils, and they
were largely informal and included Qur’anic teachings. Ali. A. Abdi points out the “nonsedentary nomadic schools were introduced with religious men teaching children how to read,
write and memorize the Koran, (the Muslim Holy Book)…this traditional system recognized and
was responsive and reliable to the local needs” (239). The Koranic education was taught through
handmade wooden tablets called ‘loox’ (in Somali), where the pupils would write and learn in
Arabic language.
The communal nature of Somali culture allows communities to rely and respect
the decisions made by community elders, as it is a “institutionalized roles with leaders
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and governance” (Laitin and Samatar, 43). The concept of Xeer is still used in rural areas
that are typically less structured and institutionalized. Even though, the ‘Xeer’ system
was considered a democratic system, it was also a gendered system where only men were
allowed to lead and participate in it. I.M. Lewis pointed out that in Somali culture
“women cannot take part in the tribal or sanction assembly of the elders, and they hold
structurally subordinate positions” (Lewis, 60). Mohamed Haji Ingiriis considers ‘Xeer’
a clan system that “From a gender point of view, fails to do justice to women… a case in
point is its contradictory facet of the decomposition of women in treating them as a
property” (377). Further, under ‘Xeer’ women are always under protection of male
figures and blood compensations of women are usually is valued at half that of men.
Although, there were variations in the models presented and transmitted as education by
outsiders and Somali alike, a common factor according to scholars were provided by the
Islamic tradition of Koranic schools. Religious teachings were the method through which
literacy developed in the pre-colonial era. In the Islamic teachings, there were no
differentiation between genders in learning; however, culture did and still does have an
effect on how the religion takes up issues of gender. In the 2002 report on Women’s
Rights in Islam and Somali Culture, the UNCEF described:
“The place of women in an Islamic society is determined by the Koran, the
tradition of the prophet, customs and practices…through the revelation of the
Koran and the Sunni of the Prophet Mohamed (PUB), Islam liberated women
from unacceptable conditions that prevailed in the tribal society of the pre-Islamic
Arabia…among the rights granted to women by Islam were the rights to life, and
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education as well as right to inherit, manage, and maintain properties” (UNCEF,
5).
This contradicts on the contemporary, largely culturally influenced viewpoint of Islamic
teachings where women’s right seems to be restricted and in many case completed averted.
In the context of the pre-colonial era and even contemporary era, Somali cultural
practices downplay a girl’s access to formal education and indeed education is largely considered
futile, since she is expected to get married and become the responsibility of her spouse,
irrespective of her education standing. Boys on the other hand are expected to carry on the
responsibility of their families, including their wives and children. In the larger African context,
education and productive social activities were intertwined. The Somali culture facilitates
women’s role as a significant part of the homestead and therefore, mothers pass on the culture’s
value and expectation to their daughters but women and girls’ contribution and possible
contributions to the broader community are largely circumscribed. Somalia’s long-standing
culturally embedded gender segregation and it is traditional schooling methods, created
“expectations and anxieties about today’s education” (Cassanelli, and Abdikadir 92). It is in this
regard that there are historical and culturally constituted ideological systems on the construction
of gender and the organization of domestic, education, and political lives in Somali Society.
Colonial Education Era in Somalia in Early-Mid 1900
During the colonial era, the education system in Somalia was designed to maximize for
the propagation of the colonizer’s agenda in order to extract the country’s resources. In this
context, the colonizers implemented a minimum required educational skills to advance their
respective goals. The introduction of colonial education could potentially be viewed as progress
in terms of introducing the concept of universal education to the colonies, but it undermined
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continuity of the culture and spiritual schema that existed in the pre-colonial time. V.Y.
Mudimbe argues, “colonial cultural disintegration of African Society was through cultural and
religion levels, through schools, churches where it broke the culturally unified and religiously
integrated schema of most African traditions” (4)
Somalis are considered a culturally entrenched society, and for centuries education
reflected the values, norms and interests of the Somali traditional pastoralists. However, cultural
shifts happened during the advent of colonialism and brought a new introduction of public social
institutions that were connected to education but these institutions were foreign to the Somali
people. The argument is that the intent of colonial educational practices was not to educate its
colony for the benefit of local peoples, but rather to facilitate gaining control over African’s land
and labour. The colonizer did come to Africa for it is resources, but they brought their own
culture with it is own gender and class conscious that then permeated into the educational
teachings in the colonies.
In The Birth of Gender: the Dichotomizing the Sexes in British Culture, Kumashiro and
Ngo, argue that prior to the eighteenth century, men and women although recognized as different
were not seen as being two distinct genders, but rather perceived as one sex in which women
possessed the inferior or deficient constituent of the same attribute (9). Though, the colonizers
had their own gender bias, and did not change the state affairs for women, they did nevertheless
provide a measured education to Somali children including girls. Ali A. Abdi states, “one of the
first formal colonial schools operating in Somalia was opened by the Italian Dante Alighieri
Society in 1907 to teach Somali children the Italian language” (331). However, Abdi adds
colonial education pupils were limited to only 1265 in number and not able to be educated higher
than grade 7, for political reasons (331).
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In general, gender inequality in education and social sphere is a common phenomenon
almost everywhere in the world, and in some societies (including Somalia), the culturally
entrenched gender gaps are worsening. The deepening gender gap and diminishing of women’s
rights (such as access to education and employment) are considered by Nussbaum and Glover to
require, “an urgent for moral stand-taking, since the majority of the world’s population received
fewer portions of its opportunities and benefits” (2). Nevertheless, colonial education provided
the Somali liberation groups as a means to see education an indispensable building block to fight
colonialism and to create a clan-transcending Somali nationalism.
Post-Colonial Education in Somalia, 1960-To-Date:
Somalia, similar to other African countries, began to re-structure its own identity after
independence from colonial rule, but it was also done with the back-dropped of their colonizers
in full view. The effect of colonial structure and ideological blending was difficult to overcome;
difficulties that I.M. Lewis called “conquest mode of state formation in which he believes
produced much more difficult for one of the elements in the ethnic mosaic to establish its
authority than it was for a group of foreign origin, blessed with technological superiority” (489).
In this sense, Somalis in post-independence were aware of gender education disparity, but it did
not consider addressing gender disparity as a priority in the new Somali state. A 2002 UNICEF
report indicated throughout the “nine years of civilian administration, the nascent Somali state
continued implementing the same colonial rules without any major change to the status of
women” (16). However, women still took active political and social roles in attempts to bring
their rights at the forefront. For example, women expressed their feeling through traditional folk
songs, which became their method of communicating to the Somali society in general and
political leaders in particular. Somali women were given their suffrage and participated in
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politics in 1963, and they exercised those rights by organizing themselves to run for an office or
to have an influence on the elections of 1964 and 1969. Mohamed Haji Ingiriis states:
“The post-colonial government contributed involuntarily to women’s
transformational change by permitting them to be artists and to sing in theatres
when some traditional intellectuals critical of the government’s lenience regarding
what was considered to be the deterioration of societal tradition stood to defend
social patriarchy…male poets composed songs denouncing the so-called
modernisation process, questioning women’s attempts to act like men” (382).
The beginning of the post-independence movement in the new Somali Republic was
considered a model post-colonial state, and indeed women’s political participations there
outpaced many Western democracies.
Public education was also accelerated between1969 and 1978 during the Junta of
Mohamed Siyad Bare that ideologically valued scientific socialism. The military regime
emphasized education as a key factor to alleviate high illiteracy in the country, especially
for women. It announced compulsory primary education for all ages, sexes, and equal
access to higher education for women; this was a great opportunity that ultimately
enhanced a number of Somalia women’s employment opportunities. Laitin points out that
during the independence process education of the Somali population was prioritized in
Article IV of the UN Trusteeship Agreement, which specifically required the setting up
of modern education systems for Somali children and adult learners (qtd. In. Abdi, 332).
Thus, Somalis embraced the values of education as an important vehicle for nationalism
and economic development. The Somali Latin Alphabet was developed and as part of the
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education campaign, Abdullahi Qarshe, a prominent Somali singer/composer, buoyantly
sang this popular nationalist song:
Aqoon la’anni waa iftiin la’aane
waa aqal iyo ilays la’ aane
Ogaada, ogaada, dugsiyada ogaada
O aada, o aada
Walaalayaal o aada.
(Lack of knowledge is lack of enlightenment
Homelessness and no light
Be aware, be aware of schools
And go to schools, go to schools
Brothers and sisters, go to schools). (qtd. In. Abdi, 333).
Somali women benefited from the literacy campaign through adult education
classes, especially those women in urban areas. In 1975, Somalia’s President Mohamed
Siyad Bare, with the collaboration of the Supreme Revolutionary Council, announced a
new progressive law that protected Somali women’s rights and their equality with men.
For instance, the first article of the first Charter of the military Revolution in 1969
declares equal rights in marriage, divorce and family inheritance. Nevertheless, some
Somali scholars and women activists demonstrate that these laws contradict Somali
customary law, or the ‘Xeer’. Further, women’s allegiance to country and family was
used to ultimately advance and further entrench the patriarchal agenda. Clan loyalty also
played key roles in cultural entrenchment of women’s education and position. Somali
tradition values male superiority. This superiority is regarded as the normal order of
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things, if not a natural way of organizing the society. In this context, both patriarchal
culture and effects of colonialism have contributed to psychological inferiority and low
self-esteem as women are taught and internalize subordination and are therefore
habituated to tolerate such second-class status.
In patriarchal society such as Somalia, gender bias is embedded also within the
education system. Kumashiro and Ngo argue,
Social justice pedagogies recognize that teaching is a political act...Because
teaching is a political project, it is never neutral and any perceived neutrality is a
political achievement. For social justice educators, this neutrality is not an
accurate representation of the position of the instructor, the politics of the
curriculum, or the ideology embedded within specific educational models (20).
Though there has been very limited educational research conducted in Somalia since the
country’s state collapse, Abdullahi (Baadiyow) provides some useful statistics and cites
that after the Somali script (based in Latin characters) was adopted in 1972, the
government launched an ambitious educational plan:
As a result, the enrolment in primary schools rose from 28,000 in 1970 to 220,000
in 1976 and to 271,000 in 1982. The number of primary schools also increased,
rising from 287 in 1970 to 844 in 1975 and to 1407 in 1980. Furthermore, the
number of teachers reached a peak of 3,376 in 1981, The literacy rate reached to
almost 50 per cent of the population aged 15 years and above in 1980. However,
in the difficult decade of the 1980s, education declined due to a lack of funds and
political instability in the country. The literacy rate had dropped to 24 per cent by
1990 (2001, N. Pag).
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In addition, the 2003 annual report of the Formal Private Education Network in Somalia,
Cassanelli and Abdikadir describe, “the enrolment of girls at the existing primary schools as
being only 30% of the student population, and the percentage declined further to 15% at the
secondary level…the obstacles therefore to achieving gender equality in access to education are
also cultural” (13). While these gains should be applauded, nevertheless it also suggests that
Somalia is at or near the bottom in primary school access relative to all other countries. Indeed,
women’s low literacy rates in Somalia are partly attributed to governmental policy, inadequate
services, and lack of defined gender enabling policies. Therefore, both family decisions and
historical Somali cultural values affect gender equality and hence, perpetuate the low expectation
and reality of women's literacy and educational attainment.
PART TWO: Cultural and Religious Influences of Gender Gap in Somalia’s Education.
Gendered Culture and Religion: Shaping Access to Quality and Equity in Education.
Somalia has numerous problems ranging from military conflict to political instability to
poverty to economic uncertainty to social upheavals and tension to disease and to gender
inequality. However, though these challenges are influenced by contemporary globalization,
colonial subjugation, and clannism, gender inequality is also deeply embedded within cultural
and religious conditionings. Culture is viewed as people’s collective way of life including norms
and values that shape how people in a society interact with one another. Historically, Somalia’s
paternalistic culture undervalues and dismisses women, which perpetuates intergenerational
cycles of gender inequality, and normalizes the subjugation of women. For example, Somali
society is an oral society and messages are expressed through poetry, proverbs and other form of
artistic expressions; however, most of Somali proverbs are very negative towards women.
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Israelite, Herman, and Alim point out that in “Somali patriarchal poetry proverbs and folk tales
portray that intelligence and motherhood is incompatible” (81). Such popular proverb illustrates
the sentiment of “a breast that contains milk cannot contain wisdom” (81). This kind of negative
proverb undermines women’s ability to be taken seriously.
Women in many different ways express their disapproval of gender roles through poetry,
and storytelling all of which are key elements of Somalia’s strong communal tradition. Through
culture, one is able to see society in its strengths and weaknesses. Traditional education has
always been both socio-cultural and religious in character, taking place within the context of the
extended family and moving with its herds, as well as the Koranic schools. However, as modern
Somali society is becoming more urbanized and with crumpled infrastructure after the civil war,
there are no adequate resources to support broad ranging education and what does occur relies
largely on a foreign aid to facilitate such capacity. This civil instability negatively impacts the
nation’s ability to develop its human resources and to eliminate illiteracy. It is worth noting that
in patriarchal culture male domination is critical, and to address gender education and girl’s
rights seriously may be even more challenging under these harsh conditions. Lidwien Kapteijns
explains how for a girl, preparation for marriage begins at birth, and one of the songs her Somali
mother would sing to her was:
Daughter, the wealth that comes by night belongs to the girl who is quiet.
Daughter, where there is no girl
Daughter, no wealth is received, Daughter, and no camels are milked....
A marriageable young man is in the house and men pass by its side....
Quiet down for us lest we become an empty space [by not receiving bridewealth for you]
Quiet down for us.
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Hooyo, gunnadii habeen guurtey gaagaabsi gabadh baaleh
Hooyo, meelayn gabadh joogin
Hooyo, gunno lagu ma qaato
Hooyo, geel lagu ma maalo.... geyaan baa guriga jooga rag baa goonyaha maraya....
Noo gaagaabi hadalka yaan gega cad la noqonin noo gaagaabi hadal ka (241).
Somali society’s entrenched tradition of gender discrepancy becomes evident in the core
of family structure. For instance, the right to lead or decide on a family asset when the father
passes away is the responsibility of the son, even if there is an older sister or sisters. The Somali
mother also feels pressure particularly if she has only girls because of the belief that she (the
woman) is responsible for the baby’s sex. It is considered shameful to only bear girls, and if this
happens can result in a husband either leaving the family or taking another wife in order to bear a
son. The reason behind this behaviour is the belief that if the father passes away, he does not
have sons to carry on the family’ name since girls are discounted. Similarly, as Catherine
Besteman points out, “mothers and the daughters have to manage the asset until the sons come of
age or older sons by another wife… reclaim the land or asset until the young sons grew up” (5).
Somali males are considered heads of the family, and are responsible for the whole family,
including spouses; therefore, women have very little influence outside the home. This domestic
focus for women limits their standing in the community at least publicly and as I.M. Lewis
illustrates, “women in the patriarchal character of Somali society do not have public power
positions, but are as influential as men inside the house” (60). In addition to men’s power
positions as the head of family, men reinforce cultural conformity because they have authority
and leadership roles based on their standing in the broader community.
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Somali women have borne the brunt of cultural traditions, many of which have been
described as oppressive, and which limit the advancement of women. Male dominance has been
cited as a major obstacle to gender equality. Boys are also taught at the early age to be the head
of the family and their success in education and in life are celebrated and encouraged. Hence,
from early on, the boy’s self-steam and standing in the community is built and promoted. As
Kapteijns illustrates in Somali’s oral literature boys are also given a message very different from
the message given to girls; a “mother is very proud of having a boy because she understands the
value of having a boy in her marriage and of her standing in the community” (240). For example,
woman’s marriage represents an opportunity to accumulate assets of her own, so she can be more
independent from her husband’s financial control. Kapteijns points out that the cultural ideal
inculcated in boys was very different, and the songs mothers sang to boys were:
Bile, you who are like the new moon to me
Bile, you who have made your tol (patri-clan) increase
Son, your tol is setting out to fight tonight
Son, they are fighting right now
Son won't you take up the injustice?
Listen, camels are preceded by men and rain by clouds
So to whom [but me] belongs the comfort of this world?
Son, may I find joy in you tomorrow
Son, may you take me to the land of the Arabs
Son, may you travel over the sea with me
War Bilow, aniga ii bil hoowaa
War Bilow, tolkii biirayow hoowaa
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Hooyo, tolkaa caawa duulaya
Hooyo, haddana wuu dirirayaa
Hooyo, dannada soo qaadi maysid?...
War, raggii geel baa u horreeyaa
War, daruur roob baa u horreeyaa
War ayaaleh raaxadda adduun hoowaa
Hooyo, bilow beri kugu badhaadhi
Hooyo, bilow bari Carab i geysay
Hooyo, bilow badda igala dhooftay (242).
Children are impressionable to the world around them; and according to Kumashiro and Ngo,
children “actively take up what they learn from parents, the popular media, religious teachings,
and other influencers regarding gender roles and use of this often contradictory information to
influence each other’s behaviors” (109).
Somali women have to navigate unequal social terrains and judgments that are built to keep
them out of opportunities and into subordination. According to Reeve and Baden, “culturally
determined gender ideologies define rights and responsibilities and what is appropriate behaviour
for women and men, and these gender ideologies often reinforce male power and the idea of
women’s inferiority” (4). Culture is the foundation of societies and a means to self-identity.
Lorber informs us that based on the societal expectation, “gender is produced and maintained by
identifiable social processes and built into the general social structure and individual identities
deliberately and purposefully” (18). Despite these assumptions, culture is fluid and enduring and
dominant cultures reinforce the position of those with economic, political and social power, and
Gender Equality: Psycho-Social Perspectives on Girls’ Education in Somali.
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therefore, tend to reinforce a male power. Feminists of all walks of life have been identifying the
structures that make up the concept of gender and people’s understanding of how it operates.
Society’s view of gender is what differentiates patriarchy culture from democratic ones.
Through The Conceptual Practices of Power, feminist scholar Dorothy Smith, fully
understands the consequence of women’s disadvantages in patriarchal societies and suggests that
“both men and women normally come to a society governed by a pre-determined set of rules and
regulations that favor men over women” (17). Smith emphasizing that the “circle of men” is an
order to which women contribute yet from which they are excluded, to which women are
confined yet in which they feel strangers (43). Smith accentuates that societies separated gender
into a private sphere that is traditionally assigned to women and a public sphere that is
traditionally assigned to men. She saw society as link of power in which patriarchal relations are
at the center, and women’s experiences and work become subsidiary since they remain
unaccounted for within it. Somali women are severing from socially constructed assumptions
and expectations that confined them to traditional gender roles and limit their respective
contribution to their society. In this context, cultural and religious expectations can influence
women to conform and subsequently subjugation occurs.
In Somali society religious teachings had and still have a great deal of influence on the
people. Though religious teachings are used for educational purpose, and were somewhat
neutral, contemporary religious teachings have seen radical changes in the Islamic world and
particularly in Somalia. Many religious teachers interpret the Qur’an differently, particularly
when it comes to women’s agency. The moderate Islamic scholars believe Islam proclaims
gender equality, but that gender equity has diverged from its spiritual meaning and application
via cultural practices that entrenched gender bias in contemporary religious application. Fatuma
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Mernissi believes Islamic religion supports women’s education. She recites a verses of the
Qur’an “the sura 33 of verse 35 of the Qur’an acknowledges the equality of all believers, male
and female, before God, thus asserting their individual sovereignty” (118), where Claude Gilliot
suggests that although there is proclaimed equality in religion terms “boys were favoured in
training and instruction, and while it was deemed necessary to instruct girls in moral and
religious things, there was no desire to lead them through other educational portals of intellectual
development” (19).
Most religious scholars indicate that the Islamic religion has not always been anti-women as
most people perceive it today. Fatima Mernissi reminds us that religious values and teachings
were tempered by “misogynistic male companions of the prophet Mohamed who diluted the true
Islamic message substituting misogynistic principle which was then entrenched within the sacred
literature and enforced through manipulation of the texts both within and after Muhammad’s
lifetime” (18). She adds, “calls for religious validation of misogyny are at odds with the original
egalitarian intent of the Prophet… she argues that these forces brought about the diminution of
the original Islamic principle and created a rift between truly Islamic attitudes to women and
those descended instead from pre-Islamic tribal traditions” (19).
Similarly, Qamaruddin Khan argues that in Islamic law, “God clearly defined and
guaranteed the rights of women in the Qur’an, so that they could no more be subjected to those
wrongs, injustices, and oppressions which had been inflicted on them since the beginning of the
human species” (13). One of the other misinterpretations that scholars including Khan
commented is the spirit, and equality in humanity; verses like,
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“O mankind: Reverence your Guardian Lord Who created you from a single person created of
like nature…. (Qur'an 4:1) It is He who created you from a single person and made his mate of
like nature … (Qur'an 7:189)” (UNCEF, 12).
‘O mankind’ was believed to be interpreted by men as a singular to male superiority over female,
but in fact the term ‘mankind’ actually mean all worshipers including female and male. In
Somali context, the majority of women are not well versed with the Qur’an teachings. According
to Saciid Ismail Samatar, adult Somali women were mostly uneducated in religious matters and
depended greatly on men for Islamic education (qtd. In. Cawo Abdi, 197). In this context,
religious teachings are done mainly by males who preach to women on the matters of Qur’anic
values and expectations. This one-sided knowledge, interpretation and dissemination are where
scholars like Fatima and Khan see the potential for misinterpretation of the Qur’an as well as
ongoing entrenchment of women’s religious subjugation.
Similarly, journalist and an author, Sally Armstrong states the practice of “religion
fundamentalism is to hinder women’s education and progress” (20). She talked about the
debilitating effect of the Afghanistan Taliban’s rules on “women’s rights and education in the
name of religion and Sharia Law” (20). Since culture and religion seemed intertwined, women
are in positions of disadvantage and are significantly challenged with respect to breaking through
these twin barriers. Other scholars stipulate that despite, the rigid laws and customs of Muslim
countries towards women, the changing socio-economic conditions of the world as well as time
may challenge these old traditions. However, hard-line interpretations of the Qur’an seem to be
accepted more in societies where patriarchy is the cultural norms. Although, culturally Somali
women face gender inequality, they had fought against cultural patriarchy through folk songs and
Gender Equality: Psycho-Social Perspectives on Girls’ Education in Somali.
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poetry such as Buraanbur that is considered the female style of poetry. Mohamed Haji Ingiriis
further reminded us how Somali women struggled with cultural discrimination:
The post-colonial government contributed involuntarily to women’s
transformational change by permitting them to be artists and to sing in theatres
when some traditional intellectuals critical of the government’s lenience regarding
what was considered to be the deterioration of societal tradition stood to defend
social patriarchy. Male poets composed songs denouncing the so-called
‘modernisation process’, questioning women’s attempts to act like men. Oral
tradition records a renowned Somali poet and cultural critic, Ali Sugule,
composing a stirring song, ‘Habloow maad is bar qabataan’, meaning ‘Oh,
women why don’t you conduct yourselves (382).
These kinds of words are passive cultural shaming and it is aimed at hindering
any positive and progressive female empowerment, cultural change, and gender
transformation. It is often men who sense that their authority is being undermined
through movement toward equity, and it thereby attempt to re-inscribe inequity through
mocking women’s advancement or empowerment. In Somalia’s culture, family life is
orientated around woman and see woman as critical domestic players in this respect, but
this respect is confined to the household. During colonial rule and post-colonial
transition, Somali women worked hard not only in the house, but in broader Somali
society. Ingiriis suggests, “while women carried out initiatives to influence men in power,
attempts to change women’s position in the society as well as the desire to create a
gender-inclusive modern society has hardly bore fruit…they were restricted in such a
way that they would be regarded by some as bourgeois feminists” (383). The attempts to
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create educational and social change and equity, however, are pitted against long standing
Somali cultural and Islamic practice that enables and entrenches male ascendancy.
Women’s education was impacted even further through civil war (1991) subsequent
social, political, and economic instability. Contemporary civil unrest has led to the dissolution of
government, then the establishment of a weak government and destruction of most the country’s
institutions and infrastructure. This civil unrest has made families more dependent on girls to
substitute for or help their working mothers. However, very little attention is given to this
ongoing gender gap because of the overall instability of Somalia. Scholars and governments
(both national and international) have largely focused only on the politics and civil strife of the
country. Somalia remains largely a pastoral nomadic society; and female education is not
something that is considered priority. Cawo Abdi states “more conservative Islamic
interpretations often support and legitimize patriarchal gender roles and relations, causing
relations of authority within society to become entrenched, especially with regard to gender
relations” (194). In this context of instability, and cultural and religious patriarchy, gender does
significantly shape the extent and define the quality of education awarded to women based on
their expected role in Somali society. These expectations permeate Somali cultural and religious
values that differentiate between gender roles in general and education in particular.
Conclusion:
This research revealed that there are gender gaps in Somalia’s formal and informal public
education, and it is due to social-perspectives pervaded by cultural and religious values
associated with girls and women’s education. Part one looked at various roles that the precolonial, colonial and post-independence regimes have played on gendered education and the
cultural values that have shaped education of women and girls. The literature reveals that in the
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pre-colonial era, the major influences on Somali people’s literacy was mainly through Islamic
teachings of the Qur’an (Islamic holy book), which has had great influence on families. During
this period both boys and girls were given educational opportunities in the Qur’anic teaching, the
literature shows however, that boys were often favoured for this education. During the colonial
era, the research also reveals that colonizers started educational institutions to educate Somali
pupils including girls; however, its scope was very limited. Nevertheless, educational practice in
this colonial era inspired an ideological scheme within the Somalia’s liberation movement to
advance the call for independence and include women in broader Somali society. The research
illuminated that during the post-colonial era, Somalia’s educational system surged and created
universal primary education to all citizens and women’s education was increased particularly
during the junta of Mohamed Siyad Bare (1969-1991).
This is also the period (1972) that the written Somali language was created, with
education being the main mechanism of dissemination for this new written form. While deeprooted cultural norms of male hegemony are the norm within Somali society, the co-education of
boys and girls that was in operation in Somalia’s post-independence era, and particularly during
the two decades of military regime, introduced a low level acceptance of equality between boys
and girls. However, these educational reforms of the early 1970s could not overcome hundreds
of years of traditional and religious practice that has favoured males. So although the Junta era
fostered a degree equity and progressive change for Somali women, the collapse of the Somali
state in 1991 has seen the retrenchment of inequality in contemporary Somali society.
Contemporary shifts toward fundamental religious philosophy and practice, in conjunction with
already entrenched patriarchal cultural norms have indeed widened the education and equity
gender gap for Somali girls and women.
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Part two of this project looked at how cultural and religious conditions intertwined with
access and the constraints to gender biased education and cultural practices. The literature reveals
that women’s education decline is partly to do with the role given to women as mothers, wives,
sisters and daughters along with the cultural and religious expectations of subordination within the
family and the broader society. The research also provided the views of many feminist and
religious scholars including Fatima Mernissi who has challenged the misinterpretation of the
Qur’an by ‘misogynistic’ males (Mernissi, 18) who intent to subjugate women and retain male
cultural and religious privilege. Feminist scholars and activists like Dorothy Smith, Judith Lorber,
Catherine Besteman, Linda Perschell and Carli Lorber illustrate that societies have pre-conceived
views of gender and gender roles that often govern the rules, regulation, and lives of men and
women; and, in the case of patriarchal cultures, privileges male over female.
It becomes apparent throughout the literature reviewed that Somali culture and religion
intertwine and demonstrate embedded gender assumptions and expectations that perpetuate gender
inequality towards education and social construction. Education, however, does have the capacity
to create positive and progressive influences on women’s socio-economic and community
standing. It is imperative, therefore, that all cultures, no matter how damaged by conflict or
culturally or religiously entrenched in inequity learn to believe in and enact the value and full
participation of women and girls in our societies if we are to instigate meaningful social and
political change. Transformation does not necessarily mean abandoning the past or cultural or
religious values, instead it can lead to a progressive transcendence that values and empowers all
the people, regardless of their status and station.
Gender Equality: Psycho-Social Perspectives on Girls’ Education in Somali.
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Recommendations:
Strategic educational interventions could help women to achieve greater equality, and this
project has led me to suggest the following potential solutions to aid gender equality via education
in Somalia:
I.
Women's rights to education should be considered an integral part of Islamic and Somali
culture. This effort requires social education about women and their rights and one that
abdicates gender discrimination while also taking into account both Islam and cultural views.
II.
Increase advocacy and visibility of Somali women and women’s agencies as the spokes
people for change for Somali women’s rights. Women themselves are the most important
catalysts for change by challenging and defying discriminatory attitudes in their
communities, women’s groups can advance the rights of girls and women for generations to
come.
III.
A gender-mainstreaming policy that prioritizes male partnership is important too as men’s
involvement will facilitate positive changes on gender parity. Partnerships with progressive
men and boys with respects to advocacy, change, and inclusion can unite the voices for
change.
IV.
Islamic and Somali (public and private) traditions and teachings should complement each
other in order to educate individuals, families, and the broader community about the
importance of women’s education. This kind of public and private support of women can
build the strength within families to treat girls and boys equally. It also enhances the family
dynamic as a whole, and contributes to broader community enhancement.
V.
Somali society values Islamic norms that provide moral guidelines; therefore, women’s rights
to education should be addressed commensurately while challenging the religious and
Gender Equality: Psycho-Social Perspectives on Girls’ Education in Somali.
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cultural beliefs of women’s inferiority. This is particularly necessary in the rural areas where
access to education is limited and conservative cultural and religious values are practiced.
VI.
Somali society also value clan affiliation and structure. Clan structure is another obstacle to
women’s education. Male elders decide the affairs of the family, against the backdrop of a
culturally promulgated female role that emphasizes women, and girl’s place is in the home
with their mothers, or with her children and husband in the case of wives. These beliefs must
be changed through education, activism, and enlightenment. These concepts need to be
challenged otherwise, gender inequality and inadequate female education will perpetuate in
Somalia (Farhia. A. Abdi, N. pag).
VII.
Countries that are affected by conflict often do not have the leadership and resources to assist
or create strong educational institutions; therefore, there is a need for the international
community to support long-term educational assistance. This assistance must work with local
advocates in creating change.
VIII.
Advocacy of the principles of equality and gender sensitivity must happen within the
government, in addition to creation of comprehensive strategies to develop and sustain
programmes on women's issues.
IX.
Central and regional governments need to produce legislation that pivots on favourable
economic empowerment for women and strengthens women's economic security.
X.
Somali government needs to implement awareness training to promote gender equality and
raise societal consciousness about the valuable contributions of women and girls.
Institutional change can be directed by and through educators and central and regional
government infrastructures and officers (ibid, Abdi. N. pag).
Gender Equality: Psycho-Social Perspectives on Girls’ Education in Somali.
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XI.
Establish school curriculum with a focus on Somali women’s history and their contributions
to society. Teaching gender equality will lead to a new consciousness, gender analysis, and
greater access to Somali women’s narratives (ibid Abdi, N.pag).
XII.
Building community involvement and creating new enthusiasm for education through
government-community programs that study, recommend, and develop programs that target
solutions of gender parity. Communities themselves can be agents for change to education
and society.
XIII.
Academic scholars including Somali academics (young and old, inside and outside of the
country) must research, advocate, and address the cultural gender gaps that are deepening in
Somalia.
XIV.
Certain foundational principles should guide educational planning, as these will set the
direction for the next generation. The most important are the principles of equal access and
opportunity for all Somali children, regardless of gender, clan affiliation, regional origin, or
economic status, and with full attention to the needs of those children handicapped or
disabled by the war.
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