Half of citizens say women are likely to be criticised, harassed, or shamed if they report assault.
Key findings
- Gender-based violence (GBV) tops the list of the most important women's-rights issues that Ethiopians think their government and society must address.
- Six in 10 citizens (60%) say violence against women and girls is "not very common" or "not at all common" in their community, but 40% disagree with that assessment.
- Most Ethiopians (70%) say it is "never" justified for a man to use physical force to discipline his wife.
- Half (50%) of respondents consider it "somewhat likely" (34%) or "very likely" (16%) that a woman will be criticised, harassed, or shamed by others in the community if she reports GBV to the authorities. o But most citizens (86%) believe that the police are "very likely" (55%) or "somewhat likely" (31%) to take cases of GBV seriously.
- A majority (63%) of Ethiopians say domestic violence should be treated as a private matter to be resolved within the family rather than a criminal matter that should involve law enforcement agencies.
Since the adoption of its 1995 Constitution, Ethiopia has passed various laws to prevent and penalise gender-based violence (GBV). The criminal law penalises rape and domestic violence with a maximum of 20 and 15 years of imprisonment, respectively. Proclamation No. 909/2015 imposes strict penalties for trafficking and coercion of sexual servitude, including 15- 25 years in prison and hefty fines (Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, 2005, 2015).
Despite these laws, violence against women and girls continues to be a public health and human rights concern in the country. According to the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey, 23% of women aged 15-49 have experienced physical violence, and 10% have suffered sexual violence, including 7% who reported that they had experienced sexual violence during the preceding year (Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, 2017).
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The Tigray war (2020-2022) exacerbated the problem. Numerous reports document extensive physical and sexual violence, including rape, gang rape, sexual slavery, mutilation, and torture, inflicted on women by Ethiopian soldiers, the Amhara Special Forces, allied Fano militias, and Eritrean troops that were fighting alongside the military (Amnesty International, 2021; Human Rights Watch, 2021). These atrocities left survivors, including teenagers and their families, enduring profound physical and psychological trauma (Gebremichael, et al., 2023).
Similar acts of violence against women and girls by the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) were also widely reported in Amhara and Afar regions as the conflict expanded in mid-2021 (Amnesty International, 2021b; Ethiopia Human Rights Commission, 2021; Ministry of Justice, 2021). Testimony from perpetrators suggests that the violence was part of a deliberate ethnic persecution strategy (Insecurity Insights, 2022).
This dispatch reports on a special survey module included in the Afrobarometer Round 9 (2021/2023) questionnaire to explore Africans' perceptions of gender-based violence.
Ethiopian citizens say that gender-based violence is the most important women's-rights issue that the government and the country must address. Although most citizens oppose the use of physical force against women, a majority consider domestic violence a private matter that should be resolved within the family rather than a criminal matter requiring law enforcement involvement.
Anne Okello Anne is the assistant project manager for East Africa
Mulu Teka Mulu Teka is the national investigator for Ethiopia.
