Red
Go back to the source and re-read what Dr Maryan Qasim objected to and then only, could we have an honest discussion. Culturally, Rapists are rewarded. Somali culture forces victims to marry their rapists. As for bride abducting, our culture is based on the supremacy of the clan over the State. Each individual bestows their loyalty towards the clan. Then, what happens when clans are feuding and are at war with one another? That’s where the connection of bride abduction is made. These abductions has been practiced as recently as the 2000’s. Culturally, we don’t have rules of engagement during wartime. The end result of clan-wars is to humiliate and defeat the enemy by all means necessary, so poems of bravery will be penned for the victors by their poets.
Somaliland has now introduced a bill against rape-shame marriages, but you know in other parts of Somalia, a rape victim will be forced to marry her rapist? If Somaliland passed a bill, it indicates that the phenomenon exists and don’t attempt to spin and sugarcoat it. What sort of a message will that send to boys. If a girl refuses for marriage, go and rape her, then she will be forced to marry you. Isn’t that a rape culture?