The rights of women in Somalia during the socialist rule of Siad Barre

The rights of women in Somalia during the socialist rule of Siad Barre

Sumai Abdirizak

2024

The Barre administration that lasted from October 1969 to January 1991 proclaimed itself to be a regime that was concerned with the previously limited rights of women and believed that the position it adopted on the question of the emancipation of women would be evidence of the authenticity and success of the Somali October Revolution in 1969. Since the fall of Barre, Somalia has been in a state of political turmoil due to the ongoing civil war and the increasing clan tensions; this has caused the standard of living for both men and women to decrease significantly. This essay attempts to answer whether the lives and material conditions of Somali women were significantly better of under the Barre regime, in contrast to a post-1991, post-Barre Somalia.

material conditions, history, socialism, women's emancipation, Siad Barre, Somalia