’A great milestone’: Somaliland adopts legislation outlawing rape | Global development | The Guardian
▻https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/jan/11/somaliland-adopts-legislation-outlawing-rape
Under the #Somaliland rape and other related offences bill, all forms of sexual offence would be criminalised, including rape, gang rape, sexual assault, trafficking and child marriage. Rapists who infect their victims with HIV would receive life sentences.
Nafisa Yusuf, executive director of the Nagaad Network of 45 women’s organisations in Somaliland, said: “This is a great milestone achieved by Somaliland women.”
The network said the legislation is particularly significant given the rise of gender-based violence in recent years. Drought in the Horn of Africa in 2017 displaced tens of thousands of people in Somaliland and throughout the wider region, leaving women and young mothers especially vulnerable to assault.
The bill has been agreed in the lower house of parliament, but still needs approval from the upper house. It is hoped the bill will be signed by the president on 1 March.
