This archive report was first published on 30 June 2019.
Published on June 30, 2019, a study by the International Crisis Group (ICG) has shed light on the complex relationship between Al-Shabaab and Somali women.
While the group's 'brutal insurgency' is generally oppressive to women, it can also provide them with important benefits, particularly by punishing gender-based violence and upholding women's rights under Islamic family law.
Women in Al-Shabaab play key roles in the group's armed campaign, ranging from marrying into the group to actively recruiting and proselytising, gathering intelligence, smuggling weapons, and raising funds.
However, Al-Shabaab does not take advantage of security lapses by using women as suicide bombers, nor does it allow females to participate directly in combat.
Contrary to the policies of Boko Haram, Al-Shabaab's policies in this regard are more restrictive, with females accounting for less than five percent of suicide operations since 2006.
In parts of Somalia where it controls, Al-Shabaab offers women and girls a degree of physical safety, particularly in cases of sexual violence and domestic abuse.
Through its courts, Al-Shabaab upholds tenets of Islamic family law that protect women's rights in matters such as divorce and inheritance, a service not provided by the official justice system.
However, the study cautions that the even-handedness of Al-Shabaab's judicial mechanisms should not be overstated, with women sometimes suffering cruel punishments on charges that reflect the group's patriarchal ethos.
