| ID | 182865 |
| Title Proper | Two Classes of “Marriage |
| Other Title Information | Race and Sexual Slavery in Al-Shabaab-Controlled Somalia |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Benstead, Lindsay J ; van Lehman, Daniel |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | Some Somali majority clan girls and women receive economic and security benefits from marriage to Al-Shabaab fighters. Yet, the literature treats women’s experiences monolithically and misses the role that race plays in determining the circumstances of such unions. The authors argue that one should not refer to the unions of Somali Bantu girls and women with Al-Shabaab fighters as a “marriage” but rather as sexual and domestic slavery – a form of extraction by Al-Shabaab that works to ethnically cleanse the Bantu from their ancestral land. Drawing on data from an original survey conducted in 2017 of 139 Somali Bantu refugee households who fled to Kenya during the previous year, the authors examine the nature and extent of unions between females from different races with Al-Shabaab fighters. Women and girls from majority clans are more likely to marry fighters freely. Compared to majority clan females, Somali Bantu girls are enslaved by Al-Shabaab fighters at younger ages and typically remain with their own families rather than moving to the man’s household, contrary to Somali’s patrilineal marriage customs. Al-Shabaab fighters do not claim the children they have with Somali Bantu girls and women, whom they despise as a racially distinct minority with low social status. This work underscores the need to avoid the term “marriage” when referring to the sexual slavery of minorities in Somalia by Al-Shabaab and for the international community both to investigate claims of ethnic cleansing as well as support the fledgling Somali government in establishing a system of rule of law. |
| `In' analytical Note | Journal of Middle East and Africa Vol. 12, No.4; Oct-Dec 2021: p.385-403 |
| Journal Source | Journal of Middle East and Africa Vol: 12 No 4 |
| Key Words | Islamic Extremism ; Child Marriage ; Sexual Slavery ; Forced Marriage ; Al-Shabaab |