Woman - a victim of violence

When the large influx of refugees from Somalia began in 1992, the UNHCR set up refugee camps in the North-East, and the coastal areas of Kenya. Though the mandate of the UNHCR is the protection of refugees, it was unable to protect the violence against women refugees, mainly sexual abuse which was especially prominent in the North-Eastern refugee camps which were haunted by local bandits called shifta.
The rapists are mainly male Somalis from the warring clans. Rape was almost unheard of in Somalia before the war, largely because of the Somalian culture which is based on muslim beliefs. However, as the war broke out, the raping of women from clans other than the rapists own, became common, partly as a revenge, and partly as a way of dishonouring the clan from which the raped woman came. In this way, women became key targets in a war which was not fought by them.
The sexual assault and violation of Somali women refugees did not go unnoticed by international human rights organizations which vocally criticized the UNHCR for failing to fullfill its mandate of protection of refugees. Largely because of this criticism, the UNHCR hired a consultant to identify and set up a system which would prevent further assaults against refugee women.

Female victims of violence
A consultant, Fouzia Musse - a Somali woman herself - was hired, and joined us in the Social Services Section of the UNHCR in 1993, where I worked with her for 18 months until I returned to Denmark. Within three months of starting the job, she identified and interviewed no less than 192 Somali women of all clans who had been sexually assaulted.
Based on her reports, the project, "Women Victims of Violence", was formed within UNHCR with the primary objective of assisting women who had been sexually abused, as well as improving the protection of women refugees.
In the Social Services section of the UNHCR, it was our duty to identify and assist vulnerable groups through counseling. We, however, experienced a lot of problems in our efforts to rehabilitate and integrate former rape victims into the society because victims of rape are considered social outcasts by the Somali society. Though, in Africa, the community is the pillar of support in rehabilitation, the Somali community doesn't do much to help victims of rape. Therefore, it was with interest that we noticed that some Somali women on their own managed to get back into their society and got rid of their stigma through traditional methods of animist or spiritual rituals - juju.

Social outcast
A woman who is raped is considered a social outcast even though it is not her fault that she was raped. She is literally dead in the eyes of the society. She has no value as she is considered impure.
Victims of rape often find themselves isolated from the community. They are often deserted by their husbands, and if the victim is a young girl, she risks being rejected by her family. Because of this, Somalian rape victims often suffer a psychological breakdown.
The reason why the community or the family rejects victims of rape is not because they do not love her but because of the values of Somalian society. In Somalia, the purity of a woman is highly valued. A woman's purity is guarded by the male members of the family lineage or clan. Her bones and body belong to the clan, but her reproductive outcomes belong to her husband. Her purity determines her bridal price.
In a patrilineal system as described here, the line of descendants or blood line is very important. This means that there is usually a problem of who will be responsible for a child born as a result of rape. Such a child will break the blood line in the lineage. If it is a young girl that is raped, the parents will usually reject her because she will not be able to attract a bride price, and the community will ostracise the family.

Women's spiritual network
In Somalia, as well as in the Somali refugee camps in Kenya, some women who have been sexualy assaulted go through a ritual of cleansing. The ritual is called "zar", meaning sister of women. A woman's sister group is also called "abby sitti". This is an internal network of women, like a social club.
In "zar", women praise Eve. When the women feel dehumanized, they attend "zar" in order to regain their dignity.
Eve is considered a sister of the women. She was the first person that was ever made from a human body. Adam, who was the first man, was only made from clay. Therefore in the eyes of Somali women, they are superior to men. "Zar" is not only a spiritual group, it is also a social and communal process.
"Abby Sitti" is a network of support for women run by women. It's function here is the psychological process of rehumanizing the women who have been victims of violence, especially sexual abuse.
"Zar" or "abby sitti" can be attended by all women who have problems. Women who have been abused, either by beating by a husband, or raped, or who just feel dehumanized for one reason or another, will seek psychological redress through spiritual healing, juju, fortunetellers and the like.

Analyzing and healing
To have the gathering, you need a spiritual healer who will make you talk about your problems. The healer will first analyze the woman by using incense to find out her problems. She makes the woman talk about these problems. Then the healer will analyze her spirit. The abused woman will be covered by a thin veil and will be made to inhale incense. Others in the gathering will also be made to inhale the incense. A certain incense which is supposed to be attractive to the spirits is especially used.
The healers are usually women. The most valued ones are, however, men. Male healers are either former slaves, Bantus who migrated to Somalia, or seafarers, who are often the most popular healers.
Women attending the gathering can sometimes be trained by the healer, to become healers themselves. These women use a kind of silver rings which show the degree of training they have attained. I asked Fouzia if a person not coming from Africa, like myself, would be able to undergo training, and she said it was possible.
During the gathering, the women will dance and beat the drums until they go into a trance. The healer will direct the tempo of the music, the singing, and the drums, depending on the personality of the spirits present. During the trance, the abused woman will talk. When she wakes up she cannot remember anything.
During the gathering the women sing songs with lyrics such as:

The spirits present at the gathering are from Somalia, Ethiopia and Sudan, and some are windspirits. The healer will find out what sort of spirit it is, because for example when a woman goes into a trance, she may start talking in Amharic - an Ethiopian language - even though she has never learnt this language.
During the gathering, it is necessary to sacrifice something to the spirits. Normally, food and perfume are given. Fish is also considered very good because spirits are believed to live in the sea. A goat's head is equally good. It has to be boiled for one to two days in order to make it soft and tender. This symbolises drawing energy from the animal. The tongue of the animal is especially good as it makes one expressive. Sometimes, mira - an African leaf which is chewed as a stimulant - is offered, in order to make the woman alert and energetic.
In order to attend the gathering, the abused woman will always have to pay something. If she is rich, she will be able to offer dinner and food to the public attending, and arrange her own "zar" meeting. However, if she is too poor and cannot pay, the women will collect money for her.
One can wear an ordinary cloth, such as one daily wears.
The women who participate in these gatherings can be neighbours or friends. The size of the group can be from 5 to 30 women, or more, depending on the situation. The group is like the membership of a social club. It brings one contacts and a network in the local community, and makes it easy to lobby for the sexually abused and outcast woman to be accepted again by her community, by winning the support of the neighbourhood women.
Depending on the healing process and how long the woman attends the seance, she can lobby to be accepted back into her community. Women are influential and very powerful in the society, and are usually the ones doing match-making, so the members of the "club" can lobby the men, for the woman in question.
The "zar" women's gatherings take place in Somalia as well as in the North-Eastern refugee camps in Kenya. Many peope also use them to overcome the negative effects of the war, and the trauma and suffering they have been through.

Somali juju in Europe
It is not only in Kenya that Somalian refugees practice animist and ritual cleansing. This is also done by Somali refugees in Europe.
The culture shock, and problems connected with living in an individualistic society like Europe sometimes makes Somalis fall back on their own traditional beliefs. However, the way these societies are organized in Europe, differs from the way they are organized in Africa. For example, they do not collect money for the abused women present.
I have been told that Somali refugees living in Europe often go to visit a very famous healer living in Holland. It is also said that there is another famed healer in Sweden.
Assistance to victims of rape is very difficult, especially if it involves community participation and community based rehabilitation. Tradition, culture and religion are strong elements to get involved with.
Individual material assistance, as well as counselling can be provided, where community acceptance is much more difficult to get.
Therefore, I find it very positive and interesting that Somali women try to act and reduce their stress while lobbying for the acceptance of the community, by joining women's spiritual networks. Development aid as well as emergency relief work should be aware of, and should both accept and help to strengthen these local initiatives, in order to reduce the effects of traumatic experiences from war and rape. Modern counselling techniques might be useful for some purposes, especially in individualistic societies like the Danish. However, they are not always as useful a tool in community based societies, as in Africa.
Women's spiritual networks should not only be seen as, or reduced to, traditional animist practices and juju - they are very important social forces, in a process of regaining strength and hope for the future, which European "zar" groups also witness.

Raped

During Fouzia's first three days in some of the North-Eastern refugee camps, three girls were reported raped during the month of Ramadan - the muslim fasting period.
One of the raped girls told this story to Fouzia:

"After sunset, we broke the fast. The first food makes you feel heavy and relaxed. We were resting in front of the house. All of a sudden, a group of bandits - the shifta - came. They ordered my husband to go inside the house.
I was seven months pregnant. They ordered me to get up. A part of me said no, but my spirit told me to follow them. They took us to the bush where they raped us. I was raped by seven men.
When I came back in the morning, I was scared that I was going to be rejected by my family and community, but they were so happy to see me. My husband was especialy caring.
I was crying while my family boiled water and washed me and gave me new clothes. They also massaged my whole body in order to ease my pains. Thereafter, my family started to call the spirits by roasting coffee and preparing popcorn for the spirits in order to clean me from this dreadful experience."
Popcorn and coffee are believed to attract spirits because of their smells.
Fouzia Musse noted that the woman who narrated the above story was much luckier than her eighteen year old neigbour who, when she came back from the raping ordeal only found an empty house. Her husband had deserted her. The only option open to this woman was therefore spiritual and animist cleansing.

This article is based on Charlotte Poulsen's interview with Fouzia Musse, a Somalian who was the coordinator of the programme, "Women Victims of Violence" at the UNHCR in Kenya. The author herself worked for the UNHCR in Kenya for two years as assistant social services officer.