View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Virtual Commons - Bridgewater State University Journal of International Women's Studies Volume 14 | Issue 3 Article 7 Jul-2013 A Hidden History: Women's Activism in Ethiopia Gemma Burgess To our readers: We regret to inform you that paragraphs 1 and 3 on page 104 of this article neglected proper citation. We have subsequently added the necessary footnotes (in September 2017). The orw ding and information in those segments comes directly from paragraph 3 on page 111 and paragraph 1 on page 112 of the chapter "Civil Society Organizations in Ethiopia" by Dessalegn Rahmato; In Ethiopia: The Challenge of Democracy from Below, edited by Bahru Zewde and Siegfried Pausewang (pp 103-119). Uppsala: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet. 2002. We apologize to the editors of the above volume and the author of the improperly cited text. The JIWS seeks to uphold the highest standards of publishing integrity, and we appreciate readers who come forward with information that helps us to stay accountable to our principles. Follow this and additional works at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws Part of the Women's Studies Commons Recommended Citation Burgess, Gemma (2013). A Hidden History: Women's Activism in Ethiopia. Journal of International Women's Studies, 14(3), 96-107. Available at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol14/iss3/7 This item is available as part of Virtual Commons, the open-access institutional repository of Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, Massachusetts. This journal and its contents may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. ©2013 Journal of International Women’s Studies. A Hidden History: Women’s Activism in Ethiopia By Gemma Burgess1 Abstract In Ethiopia a woman’s identity is linked to her family and the prescribed gender role as a mother and home-maker, yet throughout Ethiopia’s history there are examples of women who have roles that extend beyond the home and family into public, political life. This paper briefly describes this dominant gender identity of Ethiopian women before charting the changes to Ethiopian politics and women’s place within them. It discusses how the shift to democratic politics opened new spaces for women’s civil society activism. However, more recent political moves towards greater repression of civil society have closed the space for women’s public, political activism, leaving the future of women’s public role in question. Key Words: Women’s activism, Ethiopia, hidden history Introduction Gender relations are always varied and constantly in flux, but there are almost always hegemonic notions of femininity2 within particular cultural contexts which shape women’s’ roles and relative positions3. Imbalances in gendered power resulting from ascribed roles and embedded power relations are maintained through everyday practice4, and, at their most extreme, maintained through gender related violence. But these power relations and hegemonic notions of femininity and women’s place are always challenged and transformed by counter-hegemonic gender relations and behaviours.5 In Ethiopia, as demonstrated in this paper, women’s place in the public, political sphere may be marginal but it is always present and has increased with changing political systems. As in many countries in Africa and Latin America, the transition to a democratic political system offered new spaces for women’s activism in Ethiopia.6 This led to the emergence of new roles for women 1 Senior Research Associate Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planning Research Department of Land Economy University of Cambridge 19 Silver Street Cambridge CB3 9EP 2 Raewyn W. Connell, Gender and Power (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1987) Raewyn W. Connell, Masculinities. (Vol. 1) (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2005) 3 Linda McDowell, Gender, Identity and Place: Understanding Feminist Geographies. (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1999) Gill Valentine, “Theorizing and Researching Intersectionality: A Challenge for Feminist Geography”, The Professional Geographer 59: 1 (2007): 10–21. 4 Lynn Staeheli, Eleonore Kofman, Linda Peake, eds., Mapping Women, Making Politics: Feminist Perspectives on Political Geography. (Routledge: London, 2004). 5 Raewyn W. Connell, (2005). Masculinities. (Vol. 1) (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2005). 6 Sonia E. Alvarez, Engendering Democracy in Brazil: Women’s Movements in Transition Politics (Princeton University Press: New Jersey 1990). Nicki Craske and Maxine Molyneux, eds., Gender and the Politics of Rights and Democracy in Latin America (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2002). 96 Journal of International Women’s Studies Vol. 14, No. 3 July 2013 in the public sphere, challenging to gender norms, but also shifting away from womens’ public roles as part of revolutionary, armed and oppositional struggle. Whilst this new space for alternative gender identities in civil society activism was largely urban, as in many other countries, it was significant and led to gender politics reaching the national political agenda, reflecting similar successes across Africa.7 The most prominent women’s civil society organization, the Ethiopian Women Lawyer’s Association (EWLA), used the human rights framework to challenge legislation which discriminated against women and to raise awareness of issues such as violence against women.8 However, political repression in Ethiopia has led to the closure of spaces for challenging and critical voices in civil society with direct targeting by the ruling party of civil society organizations, including EWLA. This has created an ambiguous future for women’s public and political activism, which is tightly controlled from the centre. Ethiopia is not a country that has figured very much in international research. Outside of the country, little is known about its political history. In particular, little is written about the place of women in Ethiopian political spheres and the emergence of women’s activism in Ethiopia has not been greatly studied. Contributing to work on women’s place in African political arenas, this paper outlines Ethiopian women’s public and political roles and how they have changed over time in this relatively under researched nation. The contribution women have made to public life in Ethiopia is largely hidden. The paper shows how despite the hegemonic gender identity which places Ethiopian women in the private space of the home; women have participated in public life in different ways over time. However, it also analyses how women’s public political roles have changed since the official shift to democratic politics. New spaces opened for civil society activism and women’s rights activists began to take advantage of the change in political culture. But the paper also discusses how the opportunities for women’s activism have diminished with the return to a more authoritarian and restrictive political culture by the ruling party. This hidden history provides an alternative political history to the male dominated historical narrative that prevails in accounts of Ethiopia’s recent political changes. This paper is based on research conducted in Ethiopia in 2005 which explored women’s activism around rights issues, particularly in relation to violence against women. As part of the research, various documentary sources were collected and analysed. Interviews were conducted with members of different women’s organizations in the capital Addis Ababa and with policy makers, politicians and members of government departments. Jane Jaquette, ed., The Women’s Movement in Latin America: Participation and Democracy (Oxford: Westview Press, 1994). Shirin Rai, The Gender Politics of Development: Essays in Hope and Despair (Zed Books: London, 2008). 7 Aili Mari Tripp, Joy Kwesiga, Isabel Casimiro and Alice Mungwa, African Women's Movements: Changing Political Landscapes (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 2009). Aili Mari Tripp, “Women's Movements, Customary Law, and Land Rights in Africa: The Case of Uganda”, African Studies Quarterly 7 :4 (2004):1-19. Aili Mari Tripp, “Women’s Movements and Challenges to Neopatrimonial Rule: preliminary observations from Africa”, Development and Change 32 (2001): 33-54. 8 Gemma Burgess, “When the Personal becomes Political: Using Legal Reform to Combat Violence Against women in Ethiopia”, Gender, Place & Culture, First published on: 10 June 2011 (iFirst). Gemma Burgess, “The Uneven Geography of Participation in the Global Scale: Ethiopian Women Activists at the Global Periphery”, Globalizations 8: 2 (2011): 163-178. 97 Journal of International Women’s Studies Vol. 14, No. 3 July 2013 Gender Relations in Ethiopia Ethiopia is the second-largest country in Africa, with an estimated population of nearly 79 million and growth rate of 2.6% per year it is one of the poorest countries in the world and ranks 141 in the Human Development Index.9 Maternal mortality is high at 673 deaths per 100,000 live births.10 The total fertility rate (births per woman) 2005-2010 is 5.4; female adult literacy 1997- 2007 was 22.8% whilst male adult literacy was 50%. Violence against women in different guises is widespread and FGM is commonly practiced. Whilst the hegemonic gender identity for Ethiopian women is linked closely to family and home,11 there are many examples throughout Ethiopia’s history not only of many nuances to this gender role, but of women whose