Sada was founded nearly five years ago to support young, college-level art students in Baghdad. This generation of artists is living in a city that has been, and continues to be, an epicenter for international violence through division of its citizenry and destruction of infrastructure by the Iraqi government, the United States, and their allies. With the ravaging of the city’s arts and education systems, it was Sada’s aim simply to connect artists to resources.

Eleven years ago, President George W Bush signed into law the “Unborn Victims of Violence Act”, a landmark piece of legislation detailing how unborn children can be given victim status if they are injured or killed whilst they are still in utero, and they will be treated as a separate case from the mother. The original bill was proposed following the savage killing of Laci Peterson and her seven-month old fetus Connor, in order to establish and protect the rights of the unborn child.

It is with grave concern that we, the undersigned Somali academics, researchers, students, writers, activists, community members and our non-Somali academic and activist allies, write to you today.