Suffering in silence: a Canadian-Somali case study

Abstract The Horn of Africa, and specifically Somalia, is now being recognized as one of the worst places for women to live (Abdi, C. M. (2005). In limbo: Dependency, insecurity and identity amongst Somali refugees in Dadaab camps, Refuge: Canada's Periodical on Refugees, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 6–14; The Guardian (2011). Somali refugees abandon babies at Dadaab camp, The Guardian. Available at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/14/somalia-refugees-abandon-babies-dadaab; The Guardian (2011) Afghanistan worst place in the world for women, but India in top five. The Guardian. Available at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/15/worst-place-women-afghanistan-india). Somali women refugees, particularly those living in the South of Somalia, face heightened possibility of rape and sexual humiliation, and are subject to ever-changing religious restrictions and punishments (Abdi, C. M. (2005). In limbo: Dependency, insecurity and identity amongst Somali refugees in Dadaab camps, Refuge: Canada's Periodical on Refugees, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 6–14; The New York Times, 2011). Some of the latest religious restrictions are that bras are forbidden and women must purchase specific clothing from stores owned by religious leaders. Also, pregnancy out of wedlock, which includes pregnancy as a result of rape, is forbidden and punishable by stoning (BBC (2009, November). Somali woman stoned for adultery. Available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8366197.stm). A recent 2011 Sharia law bans unrelated men and women from shaking hands, walking or talking together in public. The consequence of disobeying is punishment by public flogging (BBC (2011, January). Somalia's al-Shabab bans mixed-sex handshake. Available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12138627). After settling in Canada, these past traumas intersect with the resettlement challenges faced by Somali women refugees. This often produces health-related issues that women struggle to overcome – within a monocultural medical system that is not always responsive to their needs (Danso, 2002; Galabuzi, G. E. (2002, November). Social exclusion. A paper and presentation given at The Social Determinants of Health across the Life-Span Conference, Toronto, ON; Bokore, 2009). This paper explores the connections between trauma and resettlement in the lives of Somali-Canadian women, and how this can in turn effect the next generation via 'intergenerational trauma'. Through personal experience, community-based conversations and existent trauma research, I will then outline how social workers can respond to this unique nexus of needs. Keywords: Somali women refugeesthe impacts of prolonged traumabarriers to resettlement in Canadasocial work practice Notes 1. Looking at new developments from the source country is important in understanding existing stressors within the Canadian community, as those practices can then spread to communities in the Diaspora. 2. Surviving two wars, refugee camp life and raising four children through the struggles of Canadian systemic racism have motivated to be involved and planning for future academic research. 3. *Part of Somalia was later given to Ethiopia and Kenya. 4. Even though my family was living in two different countries, we managed to see each other on occasion - based on the availability of safe border crossing, which at times was very challenging and isolating. 5. Daniel Siegel (Citation2007) quoting defines resilience as: 'The maintenance of a high level of positive affect and well-being in the face of adversity. It is not that resilient individuals never experience negative affect, but rather that the negative affect does not persist' (p.214). 6. In August, 2011, the United Nation's Margot Wallström, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict stated: 'Once they [women refugees] cross the Somalia–Kenya border or reach Dadaab – the world's largest refugee settlement –their hopes of finding a safe haven are often overshadowed by new dangers and hardships, including the risk of rape.' Wallström reported that the office had also received alarming information about alleged rape by Somalia's Transitional Federal Government forces and allied militias in south-central Somalia and heard that Al-Shabaab militants pitted against the government were abducting girls for forced marriage to fighters. 7. For example, while travelling through areas where HIV/AIDs rates are high, Somali women refugees face not only the possibility of rape, but also of contracting HIV because of rape (McGinn, Citation2000). 8. Reports in 2011 from the Global System for Monitoring Human Rights say: 'somali-women-fleeing-from-war-and-famine-raped-and-sold-in-the-refugee-camps-of-kenya'. 9. In July 2011, Care International stated that reported cases of sexual abuse amongst women and girls in Dadaab had increased almost fivefold – from 75 in the first half of 2010 to 358 in the same period this year. The United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA (Citation2011). 10. Children of refugees are often affected by trauma transference (Schwerdtfege & Goff, Citation2007), a phenomenon that I discuss in more detail later in this paper. 11. Many Somali newcomers still live in the marginalized neighbourhoods where they settled after arrival in the late 1980s and early 1990s (Danso, Citation2002; Bokore, Citation2009). They comprise one of the most socio-economically disadvantaged Canadian communities, experiencing disproportionate levels of poverty, violence, homelessness, inadequate housing and discrimination, and youth drug addiction, incarceration and high school drop-out rates (Danso, Citation2002; Maxamuud, Citation2006; Ornstein, Citation2006; Aw-Osman, Citation2008; Jibril, Citation2011). 12. Assisted language learning programmes for newcomers in Canada end after the first 5 years upon arrival, or when an individual becomes a citizen (Folson, Citation2004). 13. Somalis do not use racial identity. They use a kinship system which is essential to their survival in East African dry tropical climate. Kinship provides protection from enemies, and is used to regulate the sharing of scare resources. Each Somali is a member of a clan, 'established by the genealogy which links him/her through male ancestors to the eponym of the clan-family' (Lewis, p. 127). 14. Although there is no literature to support it in academic circles, labour market sources often refer to Asian immigrants as model immigrants – Bloomberg Business Week (Citation2006, September). Are Indians the Model Immigrants? Written by Vivek Wadhwa and WYNYC (2011) Asian Immigration and the Myth of the 'Model Minority' Written by Erwin de Leon are few of the examples. 15. Although this is not formal research, many community reports I read point to this alarming issue (Danso, Citation2002; Papadopoulos, Citation2002, Citation2006; Raphael, Citation2002, Citation2004; Williams et al., Citation2003; Maxamuud, Citation2006; Ornstein, Citation2006; Aw-Osman, Citation2008; Bokore, Citation2009; Jibril, Citation2011; New York Times, Citation2011). I have also been involved with the Canadian Somali community for the past 20 years, attending meetings, conferences and talking to parents and students I meet at a college and university where I teach, as well as drawing from my own personal experience as a mother. 16. Wilkinson (2010, p. 46) quoting discusses the development in the ability for self-regulations and a healthy sense of self in the child's early years as transferred through mirror neurons between mother and child. 17. Social determinants of health include gender, race, class, violence, religion, culture, language, immigration status and socio-economic circumstances. 18. I believe that helping mothers, and especially single mothers, means also helping their children. 19. We do not discuss specific changes, as that can easily lead to political differences in the group. 20. As explained earlier, sexual violence is traditionally not spoken about with non-family members, since the consequences for the assaulted female are dire.

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