A/HRC/12/44 page 13 women’s rights. Sharia law includes execution by stoning for the crime of adultery. The public lapidation of a young woman alleged to have been raped after having been sentenced to death for adultery by a local sharia court, mentioned in the previous report of the independent expert, still haunts the minds of people. Fortunately to the independent expert’s knowledge, the case has not been repeated. 53. Women, who run most small businesses as well as the khat trade in Somalia, are increasingly targeted by armed groups to force them out of business. Also, uniformed personnel linked to the Transitional Federal Government are reported to be involved in looting, and the targeting of businesses run by women. (c) Violence against women in Somalia linked to the social fabric 54. In Somalia, the prevalence of female genital mutilation and cutting is about 98 per cent and is primarily performed on girls aged from 4 to 12 years. The practice is especially widespread in rural communities. 55. Domestic violence victimizing women continues to be a major problem in all parts of Somalia. Because of the destruction of formerly functioning clan structures, in many places, women have no access to any formal or traditional protection. Young adolescent girls are often brought by their families to detention centres for “misbehaving” and are held in custody until the family asks for their release. 56. Women victims of gender-based violence have no functioning judicial system to turn to. Even in Somaliland and Puntland, where courts do function, access to justice for such women is extremely limited. Rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence are dealt with by clans as a civil dispute, not involving the victim, and are often solved by either the payment of blood money or forced marriage between the victim and the perpetrator. 5. Children’s rights 57. As elsewhere, women and children are the most vulnerable in places where they live and as they flee from those places, and in some places also when they arrive, such as at camps for internally displaced persons. Grave violations against children and women have been reported throughout the country, including the recruitment and use of children by parties to the conflict, killing and maiming as a result of the fighting, indiscriminate or excessive use of force and rape, and other forms of violence against women and children. 58. More evidence is emerging on the scale and nature of child recruitment and the use of children by all sides in the conflict. Children are being recruited, very often for use on the front. The majority of the children are aged from 14 to 18 years, though, there is also evidence of children as young as 9 years of age being recruited. Recruitment is systematic, and often involves force or deception. Children are mostly recruited from schools, madrasas and camps for internally displaced persons inside Somalia and from refugee camps in neighbouring countries. Vulnerable or destitute adolescent boys are the ones mainly targeted. There are also reports of girls recruited by the insurgents to marry fighters, provide logistical support and collect intelligence.