Document #1192746
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
According to a community worker of Somali
Immigrant Aid, Toronto, the cultural tradition of all Somali clans
requires a widow to marry the brother of her husband (30 Nov.
1994). A representative of the Somali-Canadian Association of
Etobicoke in Toronto corroborated this information (30 Nov.
1994).
The community worker of Somali Immigrant
Aid stressed that today, educated urban women can refuse to follow
this tradition and are able to support themselves independently as
a result of their education (ibid.). However, rural uneducated
women who are supported entirely by their husbands, have no choice
but to marry a brother-in-law should the husband die (ibid.). This
tradition is based on financial grounds because both a married
woman and a widow have no means of support but that given by her
husband's family. Should a widow refuse to marry her
brother-in-law, she will be caste out of her husband's family
(ibid.; DIRB April 1994, 7). She will also lose her children (30
Nov. 1994). Considered a member of her husband's family, and having
left her own immediate family at the time of her marriage, a woman
cannot return to her parents (ibid.).
Should the widow have more than one
brother-in-law, either the eldest or the wealthiest brother will
marry her (ibid.). The decision will be made among the brothers;
the woman has no say. Whether or not the brother-in-law is married
is irrelevant as Somalis are polygamous. Should the deceased not
have any brothers, the widow will be married to another male
relative within her husband's family (ibid.).
The sources differed when explaining why a
widow is required to marry her brother-in-law. According to the
representative of the Somali-Canadian Association, a widow must
marry her brother-in-law if she wishes to keep her husband's
possessions (30 Nov. 1994). However, the community worker of Somali
Immigrant Aid contradicted this information, stating that a woman
does not inherit her husband's possessions upon his death; the
possessions of the deceased man belong to his family who will
determine the distribution. The widow receives nothing
automatically and is thus completely dependent on her husband's
family for support (30 Nov. 1994).
Please consult the DIRB Question and Answer
series paper Women in Somalia for further information on
Somali women in general. This publication is available at your
Regional Documentation Centre. Pages 2-3 deal with the Family Law
of 1975 and the rights and protections extended to women, however,
since 98 per cent of Somalis are Muslim, the Muslim Family Law
takes precedence. Pages 6-8 discuss the clan system, clan
obligations towards their women and child custody.
This response was prepared after
researching publicly accessible information currently available to
the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does
not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular
claim to refugee status or asylum.
Documentation, Information and Research
Branch (DIRB), Immigration and Refugee Board, Ottawa. April 1994.
Women in Somalia.
Somali-Canadian Association of
Etobicoke, Toronto. 30 November 1994. Telephone interview with
representative.
Somali Immigrant Aid, Toronto. 30
November 1994. Telephone interview with community worker.