DOI: https://doi.org/10.36347/sjahss.2025.v13i09.001

Pages: 295-302

The call for effective response to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) cannot be ignored. The interventions and preventive mechanisms, though helpful, are not adequate, considering the growth of cases of violence. Moreover, the severe underreporting of incidences cited in several reports and acknowledged in scholarly research as contributing factors to the conundrum surrounding SGBV, cannot be underestimated either, particularly in the case of Somalia. Scoring much below bar in all development indicators, the Horn of Africa nation has a complicated history of gender marginalization as a cultural norm. The multi-diagonal challenges the country is grappling with is the consequence of the inherited socio-cultural attitude of bias against women, reinforced through generations of little action to heal the wound. This review article examines through published secondary sources on the nature of SGBV in Somalia. The selected corpus includes books, chapters, scholarly articles and reports by international organizations working in the humanitarian and development sector in Somalia. It contributes to the scant body of literature and concern raised over the SGBV scourge tormenting the lives of an enormous number of Somali women.