Hawa Yabarow, child protection focal point, met a 16 year old young girl looking for somewhere to sleep in Sigale. The young girl was from Merca district, in Lower Shabelle region. Her parents married her off to a 45year-old man when she was 15 years old but she refused to marry the man
Her family told her to go and live with her husband but she became adamant on saying no to the early marriage. However, she was beaten by parents to accept the marriage. The family told herhusband to beat her in case she does not comply with his wishes.
Her husband brought her to Mogadishu IDP camp in Hamar-jajab but one night later she escaped from him and come to Sigale IDP settlement in Hodan district. This time she came to a woman living in a makeshift shelter and she informed the woman her situation, saying that she does not have any relative to support her in the town and requested to stay with her for some time. She accepted the request on a condition that the girl must perform pilfering & pick-pocketing in Mogadishu markets so that the woman’s income may increase. The girl did not know and did not like that type of work but as she had no any other alternative, she started the work and her prime instructed targets of pilfering were money, mobile phones, and anything which is worth of reselling.
During the course of the job she gained money which directly went to the woman’s hand,only $20 dollars of that money had been sent to the girl’s family per month. The exploiter communicated to the girl’s family claiming that their girl is her housemaid and that money is her monthly salary, unfortunately the family never did any follow up the matter, they simply took the $20 dollar every month.
Eventually, the girl conflicted with the woman about stealing issues and she chased her away. It was very dark but girl was very smart to decide to stay around in the camp and she came near Hawa Yabarow’s makeshift shelter as the closest neighborhood. She asked Hawa if she could let her stay with her till morning. Mrs. Hawa welcomed the girl and asked why she is roaming inside the camp at that time of the night, the girl told her the whole heartbreaking and sad history of her life.
As an experienced child protection focal point Mrs. Hawa Yabarow, immediately communicated to the girl’s family through the telephone informing the horrific & slavery life of their daughter and how she managed to live in Mogadishu. Hawa also informed the family that their girl was in danger of either being rapped or killed by street gangsters or become drug addicted or worse, a drug dealer. She also explained how the family played a major role in violating their daughters’ rights through forced early marriage, which led to their child exploitation and misfortunes.
It took Hawa days to persuade the girl’s family to understand the situation of their daughter and finally they accepted their mistakes. Then the family together with the help of Hawa made great efforts in convincing the girl’s husband to divorce her and succeeded with it later. She was divorced and reunited with her family in Merca after seven months of horrible life and slavery. The girl always thinks over her bad days and how those days could have great impact on her future life though she is now very happy to be at home. Recently the girl called Mrs Hawa saying “Mama Hawa, you brought me back here in Merca, to tell you the truth no one knows here that I was a pilfer girl in Mogadishu. Now I am happy with regaining my dignity and reputation.”
Hawa, as the child protection focal point, is in the process of making fruitful communication with the woman, in Hamar jajab IDP camp, who sheltered Najma and introduced her to the world of crime and abuse. With the intention of making her understand that child labor is a crime and that there is no duty more important than ensuring that children rights are respected and their welfare is protected
NO TO CHILD LABOR IS OUR STANCE…….tell the world you do too!!
