Somali women want to marry pirates. Or at least they think they do, according to an The Korea Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX report of Jan 28, 2011: 'Somali pirates are the most sought-after [bride]groom[s] among Somali women'[January 28, 2011] http://satellite.tmcnet.com/news/2011/01/28/5275018.htm
My blog of 13.10.2010 shows what a mistake it can be to say 'I do' to a modern swashbuckler. Accoding to Shukria Dini’s findings such marriages can be nightmares, not fun-filled eternal bliss with a Johnny Depp-substitute.
Certainly marrying a high-flying pirate can bring (limited and temporary) access to wealth beyond the earning power of most women in impoverished countries. The article quotes a Financial Times report that the average ransom a gang of Somali pirates gets is $5,4m.
Typically gangs are small and as BBC Somalia analyst Mohamed Mohamed reports,consist of three different types of member:
# ex-fishermen: the strategic brains behind the business
# ex-militiamen: provide muscle, and presumably access to arms
# technical experts: computer people who can operate GPS, military hardware etc.
From that it's easy to see why women are excluded from the action end of this industry.
In an interview with the BBC Abdi Farah Juha, a resident in a regional capital of Somalia, said most of the pirates are aged between 20 and 35 years and in the piracy business for money. 'They wed the most beautiful girls; they are building big houses; they have new cars; new guns.'
Yes. And they ditch those wives for newer models, spend the dosh on dope, and die young. Not the best of prospects. So don't put your daughter in the piracy marriage market, Mrs Worthington. Get her an independent career of her own.
1 comment:
An interesting take on the piracy issue. So regrettable that so much adoration and esteem is based on such a dispicable 'industry'.
Post a Comment