The Somali community in the UK: What we know and how we ... - ICAR

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anything, for her or the children” (2002: 110). Other men take a more pragmatic stance, arguing not only for more employment opportunities, but for a better deal from the welfare state, and look to take advantage of the benefits on offer (Dench, 1994: 35-40). Neither is there a clear female response. There are those older women who lament what they see as the lack of respect for men in British culture as a recipe for family breakdown - much younger women brought up in the UK may think less about the importance of male control. But an interesting study by Emua Ali (2001) shows that there is no neat fit between educational level and views on gender relations. In her study of 50 women, some highly educated women resisted the concept of their equality with men. In practice, familial control of marriage is diminishing, and Ali found that those with further and higher education tended to support women’s independent choice of partner. Nevertheless, ambiguity remains: the 38% of the sample who argued for arranged marriage included all educational levels, from illiterates to graduates, and the majority of women seeking more autonomy had little formal education. British culture can influence but not override, and Somali norms still heavily influence marriage. Women will not marry as young as they might in Somalia where teenage brides are common. But single women over thirty who have chosen to devote their time to their career say that their chances of finding a husband are now virtually closed. As for the selection of a partner, in the British context of a dispersed community and fragmented families, parental choice of spouse may be reduced to necessary approval, but complete independence in this matter has not replaced family arrangements. It is not acceptable in Islam for men and women to mix freely together; only a small minority of young people interviewed by Berns McGown (1999) would go clubbing with their British peers. Somali Nuptials is an introduction agency which recognises that “in our community we lack meeting places or events where we could meet a potential partner (religion being among one [sic] of the reasons)” 142 . But at the same time independent romantic courtship is condemned. Dating or: Going out with one another for a period of time is quite haraam [prohibited] in our religion (Islam). Somali Nuptials does not condone long term relationship (dating without the intention of marriage) after meeting with one another. 143 It might seem surprising that in Ali’s sample the majority of those who disapproved of boyfriends had higher education, and therefore potential access to employment. But in tackling the question of how far emigration has been a liberating experience for Somali women, we must think beyond the western model of a congruence between economic independence and freedoms of sexuality and style. ‘Autonomy’ amounts to a woman’s control over key aspects of her life, and these will be culturally specific. A choice to wear the hijab (headscarf) and observe Muslim prayer times can evidence confidence and self-assertion as much as would a decision to reject them. In Breaking the silence (2003: 15) Safya says: I’ve seen both sides of this life from when I left Somalia. I’ve seen life from inside my Western clothes and short skirts. Those Western clothes gave me an advantage here. I blended in…. I dress differently now. I go into my Hijabo, and I see a different side of life. I study the Islamic viewpoint. I dress modestly, with a long skirt…. People are suspicious of me now. People look down on me. I’ve been rejected for jobs since having the Hijabo. I’m sure rejection comes with my change of dress.… I don’t care. I’m facing the world now…. Your judgement won’t change my life! I accept my own struggle! What’s important is my faith. I feel stronger now I have the Hijabo. My thinking does not divide me. I am strong. Here, Safya has traded convenience for the security of existential integrity. In her study of Muslims in the diaspora (1999), Berns McGown found many young Somali women in London are turning towards their religion to confirm their diaspora identity. This does not mean a retreat into rigid rules or an Islamic ghetto, but a constant “weaving 64 The Somali community in the UK
together [of] their birth and their adopted cultures” (1999: 7), a renegotiation of faith in the context of their life in the wider community. This is an active process, an individual enterprise which again belies the image of Muslim female passivity. 144 The resulting pattern of life regarding dress, personal morality, friendship and family relationships is one forged by each woman to suit her own circumstance. This personal balance may also be flexible, adapting to the particular social context at any one time. “At school you have the English, western culture, and at home you have the Somali culture”, a teenager told Ali; “I know both worlds well” (2001: 177). Female genital mutilation (FGM) There is one Somali practice, however, which has done more than any other to promote an image of female oppression, and that is female genital mutilation (FGM) - also known as female circumcision. Until recently, every girl, sometimes as young as six, endured the operation in which all or part of her genitals were cut away. In the most extreme version, that of infibulation, the clitoris, labia minora and much of the labia majora are excised. The sides of the wound are then tightly stitched together, leaving a hole the size of a matchstick at the lower end of the vulva for the escape of urine and menstrual blood. With clitoridectomy, it is the clitoris and part of the labia minora which is taken out, while the least severe form, Sunna circumcision, removes the clitoral hood, or inflicts a small cut to the clitoris sufficient to draw blood. In urban areas in Somalia, the operation may take place in hospital, so avoiding the worst infections that can result from traditional excisers, using blunt unsterile instruments. But the long-term effects of infibulation - the potential complications surrounding urination, menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth and a variety of other health hazards, are the same, whilst all forms of FGM radically affect a woman’s sexuality. Women are seen as the repositories of family honour, and the rationale for FGM, beyond the weight of ‘tradition’, is the preservation of a young woman’s purity - her virginity and her symbolic cleanliness. Although serving a patriarchal system, FGM is perpetuated by women themselves. An uncircumcised girl would have been unable to find a husband and so become a social outcast – a fate any mother would want to avoid. The practice is now being questioned in Somalia, but is still near universal (McGown, 1999: 148). In the UK, research indicates that there are still Somali mothers or grandmothers who feel that the daughters of the household should be excised - 36% of Emua Ali’s sample of women defended the practice (2001: 200-202). She estimates that this has affected some 5% of girls (ibid: 28), who have been circumcised either at the hands of an operator in the UK or whilst on a visit to Somalia. Tradition dies hard - in spite of the pain it causes, generations of women have seen circumcision as intrinsic to their adult identity and they resent an important part of their culture being branded as child abuse. But now this taboo topic is beginning to be broached in public, and many Somali women and men in the UK say that the practice should be abandoned, particularly in its most extreme form. McGown (1999: 150-151) found that 52 out of her 60 interviewees of both sexes said that the procedure should be stopped. A key argument by campaigners is that contrary to popular belief, FGM is nowhere sanctioned by the Koran. It is not a religious obligation. Although few would dare admit it, this knowledge has encouraged some infibulated single young women to have the operation reversed, while many will now seek surgical help before their wedding night. In 1985, the Female Circumcision Act made the practice illegal in the UK, and in 1991 directions for the implementation of the 1989 Children Act authorised investigation by local authorities in suspected cases. On the 3rd March 2004 the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 (Commencement) Order 2004 was enacted, 142. Somali nuptials flier. 143. Ibid. 144. Berns McGown’s study is based on interviews with an equal number of both men and women - but women’s voices seem to predominate. Whilst this may reflect the interests of the female author, her material suggests that women are often more proactive than men in their new situation as refugees. Also see El Solh (1993a). The Somali community in the UK 65
Page 1 and 2:
The Somali community in the UK What
Page 3 and 4:
Table of contents Foreword 4 Introd
Page 5 and 6:
participate in their children’s s
Page 7 and 8:
esponse to this charge is that the
Page 9 and 10:
topics selected are those which Som
Page 11 and 12:
Table A: Classification of sources
Page 13 and 14: since the late 1980s have come main
Page 15 and 16: Somali diaspora (2000) includes enc
Page 17 and 18: of accurate numerical data. This is
Page 19 and 20: A she-camel is a mother To him who
Page 21 and 22: - religious leaders, clan elders, i
Page 23 and 24: These men tended to form a separate
Page 25 and 26: Entry into the UK 8000 Figure A: As
Page 27 and 28: Figure B: Number of initial decisio
Page 29 and 30: Non-compliance Asylum applications
Page 31 and 32: (usually Addis Ababa or Nairobi). H
Page 33 and 34: Table F: Estimates of Somali popula
Page 35 and 36: Table H: Estimates of Somali popula
Page 37 and 38: The unreliability of statistics is
Page 39 and 40: London, Liverpool, and Manchester.
Page 41 and 42: industries. But here, too, even giv
Page 43 and 44: own community, potential workers si
Page 45 and 46: Youngster’s [sic] are behind in e
Page 47 and 48: Attitudes to girls’ education by
Page 49 and 50: It is the family that she identifie
Page 51 and 52: British peers. Writing of the “cu
Page 53 and 54: Health Despite the importance of th
Page 55 and 56: colleagues, in a study of Somali me
Page 57 and 58: I have been here since 1983 and the
Page 59 and 60: social parameters” is detrimental
Page 61 and 62: such as those listed in the documen
Page 63: autonomous control, divorce is not
Page 67 and 68: purposes. The same might be said of
Page 69 and 70: Although operating in a very differ
Page 71 and 72: Conclusion Despite the seeming diff
Page 73 and 74: Buxton, C. (n.d.), Somali children
Page 75 and 76: women, Diverse Heritage Trust Ltd #
Page 77 and 78: Smyth, K. and Mohamed, A. (1997), R
Page 79: The Somali community in the UK 79
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