Gender Equality and SGBV

Shalom humanitarian Development

Association [SHDA]

Presented by: Mr. Feyera Abera, Human Rights Activist and Development Consultant

June 2019
Salalle University
 Gender equality
Gender equality is achieved when women and men, girls and boys,
have equal rights, life prospects and opportunities, and the power to
shape their own lives and contribute to society. It focuses mainly on
five aspects of the gender equality agenda:
• • Women’s political participation and influence
• • Women’s economic empowerment and working conditions
• • Sexual and reproductive health and rights
• • Girl’s and women’s education
• • Women’s security, including combating all forms of gender-based
violence, which is the main focus of this presentation
 Sexual and Gender Based Violence
• Violence against women is described in the Beijing
Declaration as “any act of gender-based violence that
results in, or is likely to, result in physical, sexual or
psychological harm or suffering to women, including
threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of
liberty in public or private”. It encompasses acts that
range from verbal harassment to forced penetration, and
an array of types of coercion, from social pressure and
intimidation to physical force.
 Cont
This includes rape within marriage or dating relationships,
rape by strangers or acquaintances, unwanted sexual
advances or sexual harassment (at school, work etc.),
conflict-related sexual violence (to rape, sexual slavery,
forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, forced abortion,
enforced sterilization, forced marriage and any other form
of sexual violence of comparable gravity perpetrated
against women), sexual abuse/molestation at institutions
and workplaces
 Cont
intimate partner violence (slapping, hitting, kicking and
beating, as insults, belittling, constant humiliation,
intimidation (e.g. destroying things), threats of harm,
threats to take away children, isolating a person from
family and friends; monitoring their movements; and
restricting access to financial resources, employment,
education or medical care), stalking violence, dating
violence, concubines, polygamous marriage, and more
 Cont
One of the main violations that women and girls
experience in Ethiopia is rape.
Women/female students experience sexual
harassment and abuse on the way to and from
school, as well as on school and university
premises, including classrooms, lavatories, and
dormitories, by peers and by teachers, police
members, and juvenile gangs
 Legal foundations
Sexual and gender based violence is among the leading
predicament which militates gender equality. There is
historical patriarchal culture with entrenched andro-centric
attitude even justified by proverbs like ‘Set ena aheya dula
yewodale’, which translates into English as ‘Women and
donkeys love being battered’.

The older family law provides that husband is the head of

the family and thus have an authority to control and follow
up his wife’s conduct (Proclamation No. 165 of 1960,
 Cont’d
The older criminal law had also recognised chastisement in
some way and thereby legalised the incidence of domestic
violence (Proclamation No. 158 of 1957, article 548.2).
Hence, the legal codes in Ethiopia used to support male
supremacy imposing lesser stringent sanctions on
perpetrators of different forms of violence against women
both in the private and public sphere (Yemaneh, 1998).
 Cont’d
The FDRE Constitution of 1995, within its chapter of fundamental
rights and freedoms, contains a number of rights which have direct
relevance to the right of women to be protected from violence. One
article is totally devoted to enlist the specific rights of women
(FDRE Constitution, 1995: article 35).
• These inter alia include equal protection of the law, equality in
marital affairs, entitlement to affirmative measures, protection from
harmful traditional practices, maternity rights in employment, the
right to consultation, property rights, employment rights, and access
to family planning information and services etc.
 Cont’d
One of the several sub-provisions under this general article explicitly imposes
an obligation and accountability on the state to protect women from violence
(article 35.4). Moreover, the constitution has recognized the fundamental
rights directly related with the right to protection from violence like that of
security of persons and prohibition against inhuman treatment (articles 15, 16,
& 18).
• Ethiopia has been a country that ratified many of international treaties
including ICCPR, ICESCR, and CEDAW. The constitution further provides
that all international treaties ratified by the country are integral parts of the
law of the land (article 9.4) and fundamental rights and freedoms recognized
shall be interpreted in a manner conforming to these treaties [article 13.2]
 Evidences of SGBV
There are red flags that suggest someone is being
sexually abused: Sexually transmitted diseases,
difficulty walking or ambulating normally, stained,
bloody or torn undergarments, genital pain or itching,
physical injuries involving the external genitalia.
• Behavioral signals suggestive of sexual abuse
include: Fear or reluctance about being left in the care
of a particular person,
 Cont’d
recoiling from being touched, bundling oneself in excessive
clothing, especially night clothes, discomfort or
apprehension when sex is referred to or discussed,
nightmares or fear of night and/or darkness, emotions like
guilt, shame, shock, loss of trust, anger, worthlessness, self-
doubt, fear, depression, or helplessness.
 The fall of SGBV as a Weapon for Silencing

Starting from 2015, university campuses of Oromia region have been

a scene of dissent-military rivalry in which youths managed wide-
scale protests against the TPLF-led terrorist government. In
retaliation, state contracted attacks were commonplace in the form of
lethal measurements, gang-rape, and killings. Girls were taken from
their dormitory to secluded places and gang-raped by military Agazi
forces. Rape became a weapon to destabilize and quell the opposition.
Hose-wives also tasted same in local villages where oppositions were
tense. Universities and the wider community welcomed pervaded
state contracted rape and gender impunity
 Why Girls/women do not report SGBV

Victims of female SGBV are reluctant to report

the cases due to shame, fear or risk of retaliation,
fear or risk of being blamed, fear or risk of not
being believed, fear or risk of being mistreated
and/or socially ostracized
 Strategies to Manage SGBV
 Hot spot mapping to identify and monitor unsafe areas
 Bystander approach
 Dorm-based intervention that reinforces positive norms
and skills
 Support Victims/Survivors
 Mobilizing men and boys as allies
 Social-emotional learning
 Teaching healthy, safe dating and intimate relationship
skills to adolescents
 Cont’d
 Empowerment-based training
 Strengthening economic supports for women and families
 Strengthening leadership and opportunities for girls
 Improving safety and monitoring in schools
 Establishing and consistently applying workplace
policies
 Local public-government collaborations like community
policing
 Victim-centered services