# Women in Somali society: work, schooling, family and politics

> Somali women today: literacy, school, work, marriage, female-headed households, the 30% seat target in parliament, and the women who led change.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/society/women-in-somali-society/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## In short

Somali women have shaped the nation from the independence struggle to the peace talks of the 2000s. Today they run many households and businesses, but they still have less schooling, less paid work and fewer seats in power than men. The figures below come from the 2020 national health survey and from research on politics.

## School and literacy

- **Literacy:** 32% of women can read (SHDS 2020).
- **Never been to school:** 48% of girls and women aged 6 and over, against 45% of boys and men.
- **Town and country:** 46% of urban women have no education, against 84% of women in nomadic settlements.

([Somali Health and Demographic Survey 2020](https://somalia.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/FINAL%20SHDS%20Report%202020_V7_0.pdf).) See [exam results](/en/society/exam-results/) and [scholarships](/en/society/scholarships/).

## Work and money

Only **9%** of married women were in paid work when surveyed, and 18% worked without pay. Of the women in work, 49% were self-employed (SHDS 2020).

About **32%** of households are headed by women, a share linked to war, drought, rising prices and men leaving to find work ([The Cultural Atlas, Somali family](https://theculturalatlas.org/somali-culture/somali-culture-family)).

## Marriage and health

- **Early marriage:** 36% of women aged 20 to 24 were married by 18, against 6% of men. The median age at first marriage is 20 for women and 23 for men (SHDS 2020).
- **Health:** most births happen at home, and almost all women have been cut. See [health in Somalia](/en/society/health-in-somalia/) and [female genital cutting](/en/society/female-genital-cutting/).

More on family life is on [family and marriage](/en/society/family-and-marriage/).

## Women in politics

Women were active in the independence movement. The Somali Youth League member [Hawo Tako](/en/people/hawo-tako/) died after the January 1948 unrest in Mogadishu and is remembered as a national heroine.

Yet seats came slowly ([Rift Valley Institute and Somali Dialogue Platform, July 2023](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/RVI_Womens-participation-report_WEB.pdf)):

| Year | Women in parliament |
|---|---|
| 1979 | the first 6 women legislators |
| 1984 | 25 (14%) |
| 2012 | 14% |
| 2016 | 24% |
| 2022 | 20% |

After the 2000 Arta peace talks, women organised as the **Sixth Clan**, a movement founded in 2002 that pressed for a seat at the table alongside the clans (RVI 2023; see [Asha Haji Elmi](/en/people/asha-haji-elmi/)). In 2012 women's groups won a 20% quota for parliament, later raised to 30%. The quota was never written into law. In the 2022 election women took 54 of the 275 seats in the House of the People ([Inter-Parliamentary Union, Somalia](https://data.ipu.org/parliament/SO)).

## Women who led

- [Edna Adan Ismail](/en/people/edna-adan-ismail/): the first Somali nurse-midwife, and founder of a hospital and university in Hargeisa.
- [Asha Haji Elmi](/en/people/asha-haji-elmi/): peace builder and co-founder of the Sixth Clan.
- [Hawo Tako](/en/people/hawo-tako/): heroine of the independence movement.

## Sources

- [Federal Government of Somalia](/en/institutions/federal-government-of-somalia/) and UNFPA (2020). [Somali Health and Demographic Survey 2020](https://somalia.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/FINAL%20SHDS%20Report%202020_V7_0.pdf).
- Rift Valley Institute and Somali Dialogue Platform (2023). [Enabling women's representation and participation in political dialogues in Somalia](https://riftvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/RVI_Womens-participation-report_WEB.pdf).
- Inter-Parliamentary Union. [Somalia, parliament data](https://data.ipu.org/parliament/SO).
- The Cultural Atlas. [Somali culture: family](https://theculturalatlas.org/somali-culture/somali-culture-family).

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