The Prevalence of Gender-based Violence and Harmful Traditional Practices against Women in the Tigray Region,Ethiopia

Abstract

In Ethiopia, large numbers of women are at higher risk of gender-based violence and harmful traditional practices. The main aim of the study is to explore the prevalence rate of gender-based violence and harmful traditional practices against women in the Tigray region, Ethiopia. In this study, a total of 1253 women were surveyed, of which 560 were from rural areas. Further, 14 focus group discussions and in-depth key informant interviews were conducted with relevant governmental and non-governmental bodies. It was found that a significant number of married women were not asked for their permission to be married and their mate was mostly selected by their family. Among others, age was found to be a statistically significant predictor for early marriage and permission of girls to get married with an odds ratio of 0.95 and 0.97, respectively (p < 0.05). Twenty-one forms of gender-based violence and 29 forms of harmful traditional practices and stereotypes against women were identified. These practices were mostly supported by the community. While gender-based violence was found to be somewhat higher in urban areas, most of the harmful traditional practices were slightly higher in rural areas.

Keywords

Gender-based violence harmful traditional practices social attitude women harassment

Introduction

Mostly, the concept of gender-based violence is related to violence against women, which basically includes many types of harmful behaviors including physical, sexual, psychological, and economic abuse directed at women and girls (Heise et al., 1999). The practice is one of the most prevalent human rights violations in the world, and has no social, economic or national boundaries. It is also a global health and development issue as identified by the United Nations (Russo and Pirlott, 2006), and an agenda of policies, public education, and action programs around the world. While gender-based violence is considered a pressing problem, it is given least recognition as a human rights violation in much of the world.

Gender-based violence is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide for people aged 15–44 years (WHO, 2014); and more than 1.3 million people die each year as a result of gender-based violence, accounting for 2.5% of global mortality (WHO, 2014). It is estimated that one in three women experiences physical or sexual abuse in her lifetime (García-Moreno et al., 2013). Further, one in five women is sexually abused as a child (Mikton et al., 2016).

Beyond the physical injuries, the health effects of gender-based violence include disability, depression, reproductive and physical health problems, higher risk to HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases. In some regions, 50% of abused women and girls are more likely to acquire HIV, according to a 2013 UNAIDS report. The impunity enjoyed by perpetrators affects all women and girls, stunting the contributions that they can make to the international development.

Similarly, the impacts of harmful traditional practices against women are far-reaching. They are features of gender-based violence that have been practiced in many forms. Early marriage, female genital mutilation, and rape are among these prevalent harmful practices that need policy attention.

In Ethiopia, the government has been committed to the achievement of gender equality. The Ethiopian Constitution (1995) clearly stipulates the rights of women; and the Women’s Policy of Ethiopia reiterates the government’s commitment to gender equality. Further, the revised Federal Criminal Code and Regional Family Law support measures against different forms of gender-based violence, including child marriage and female genital cutting. In addition, the national poverty reduction strategy has included addressing gender inequality as one of its eight pillars.

However, gender-based violence and harmful traditional practices against women are prevalent in different parts of Ethiopia. According to UN Women (2016), intimate partner violence, early marriage, and female genital mutilation were the prevalent practices against women in Ethiopia. Further, about one out of ten women in Ethiopia are victims of abduction, early marriage, and marital rape (Semahegn and Mengistie, 2015).

Gender-based violence and harmful traditional practices against women in Ethiopia have their roots on the gender inequalities between men and women. Although violence against women has begun to receive more attention nationally over the last two decades, violence against women is still largely hidden. According to UNECA and ACGS (2010), there are a number of reasons, including the predominance of the patriarchal system, the acceptance of violence against women as the cultural norm, the stigma attached to female victims of violence, and the very low rate of responding by female victims of violence.

These factors result in a shortage of information and data about violence against women, and this affects the ability of policy makers to make legislative and policy reforms, ensure adequate provision of targeted and effective services, monitor trends and progress in addressing and eliminating violence against women, as well as assess the impact of measures taken. Further, this sensitive part of Ethiopian women’s life needs to be addressed in ways that are both educational and investigative (UN Women, 2014a). Collecting comprehensive and accurate information using household surveys is important to develop a national strategy to comprehensively address and end any practices against women. This study aims to investigate the gender-based violence and harmful traditional practices against women in the Tigray region, Ethiopia.

Methodology

This study was conducted in the seven administrative zones of the Tigray region, northern Ethiopia. A probability sampling technique was employed for the purpose of gaining region-wide data. Since the main purpose of this study was related to gender-based violence and harmful traditional practices against women, enumeration areas were selected based on their exposure to these practices. Accordingly, 14 districts (two from each zone) were chosen; from these districts, 28 enumeration areas (two from each district) were selected purposefully.

Based on the stratified multistage cluster sampling, the final sample size for the study was 1204. For the sake of avoiding incomplete data, a total of 1400 questionnaires were administered. Finally, a total of 1253 completed questionnaires, which were above the sample size were collected, of which 44.7% were from the rural areas. Because the population in rural areas of the region were higher than the urban areas, the rural–urban comparative results of this study will only represent the enumeration (gender-based violence hotspot areas) of the region.

As can be seen from Table 1, the sample size was proportionally distributed to all zones, districts, and enumeration areas based on the probability proportionate to size sampling method. All the respondents were in the age group of 16 to 83 years with a mean age of 35.66 years.

Table 1.

Residence area and zone of respondents.

Residence area		Zones of respondents							Total
Residence area		Mekelle	South Eastern	South	Eastern	Central	North Western	Western	Total
	Town	198	93	97	70	96	90	49	693
	Village	0	96	94	68	83	109	110	560
Total		198	189	191	138	179	199	159	1253

Additionally, 14 focus group discussions (one in each district) with a composition of elders, community and religious leaders, and leaders of the developmental army were held. Furthermore, to collect supplementary data, detailed key informant interviews were conducted with the heads of relevant offices like the office of Women Affairs, Women Association, and the office of Justice.

General status of practices against women in the Tigray region, Ethiopia

In the Tigray region, early marriage has been the common harmful traditional practice for the past eras. In this study, the majority (89.8%) of the respondents claimed that girls in their locality marry at an age of above 18. Similarly, data obtained from the focus group discussion indicate that early marriage has significantly decreased in the last decade. However, the practice has not been fully eliminated as 8.1% of the respondents said the girls also marry at the age of 15–17 and 1% of the respondents reported that there is marriage practice below 15 years of age.

Nevertheless, Table 2 shows a significant number (48.7%) of the respondents had married at an age of below 18 and 17.5% of the respondents had married at an age of below 15. Here, the age of the respondents was statistically significant predictors of women’s age of marriage. The results from the binary logistic regression show that for every one year increment, the log odds of the age of marriage of the respondents increased by 0.95 times (p < 0.05), implying that older female respondents were more likely to be married early as compared to the young female respondents. Besides, Table 2 shows 87.5% of the women in the age group of 65 years and above were married early. The figure was decreasing as age of the respondents decline.

Table 2.

Marriage age of respondents.

Age of respondents	Number of observations	Frequency of respondents married under 18	Percent	Frequency of respondents married above 18	Percent
16–25 years old	178	42	23.6	136	76.4
26–34 years old	321	120	37.4	201	62.6
35–47 years old	430	238	55.3	192	44.7
48–64 years	159	124	77.9	35	22.1
65 years and above	16	14	87.5	2	12.5
Total	1104	538	48.7	566	51.3

Moreover, residence is one of the determining factors for early marriage (UNICEF, 2005). In Table 2, it is indicated that early marriage was higher in urban areas with 24.9% of underage married girls, whereas, the figure was 21.8% in rural areas. This contradicts with a related study made in Harerge (Eastern Ethiopia), which reveals that early marriage in rural and urban areas was 61.5% and 37.9%, respectively (Abdumalik et al., 2018). Similar to this, a 2005 Unicef report indicated that early marriage in a proportion of women aged 20–24 was found to be higher in rural areas than in urban areas.

The right to free and full consent to a marriage is guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. According to the African Union (2015) report, nearly 39,000 girls worldwide get married daily at an early age without being asked their permission. In line with this, large numbers (39.4%) of the married girls in the study area were not asked their permission to get married. The figure was almost similar in both rural and urban areas. The age of the respondents was statistically significant predictors of women’s permission to get married. For every one year increment, the log odds of permission to get married increased by 0.97 times (p <0.05), implying that older female respondents were not more likely asked their permission to get married as compared to the young female respondents. Table 3 indicates that 31.4% of the young married women were not asked their permission when they got married. The figure was increasing as the age of the married women increase.

Table 3.

Permission of girls to get married.

Age of respondents	Number of observations	Was your permission asked when you got married?
Age of respondents	Number of observations	Yes	Percent	I was not asked	Percent
16–25 years old	172	118	68.6	54	31.4
26–34 years old	338	240	71	98	29
35–47 years old	444	253	56.9	191	43.1
48–64 years	152	66	43.4	86	56.6
65 and above	18	5	27.7	13	72.3
Total	1124	682	60.6	442	39.4

Although both men and women are selective in terms of whom they want to marry, women are not always engaged in marriage arrangements. This is evidenced by the male’s tendency to seek out a female partner. Women always seek a self-selected partner, rather than a casual partner; however, because of family and peer pressures, they often accept a relationship arranged by family (Andrinopoulos et al., 2006).

In this study, a majority (59.5%) of these married girls did not choose their partner by themselves. It was the girls’ and husbands’ family, and the husband himself who selected a mate for the girls. Yet, a significant number (27.7%) of the married girls selected their partner based on love.

Dowry is the most common practice in Ethiopia, and particularly in the Tigray region. It is believed that dowry has a negative socioeconomic impact on the woman’s and her family lives. In Bangladesh, dowry is a prohibited act (Nasrin, 2011). The data from the survey reveals that the majority (60.9%) of the married girls have given a dowry to their husband or husband’s family (Table 4). This practice was almost similar in the urban and rural areas of the region.

Table 4.

The practice of dowry in Tigray.

Type of Woreda		Whether respondents gave dowry to their husbands					Total
Type of Woreda		Yes	No	I was not married	I don’t know	I will not answer	Total
	Urban	31.7%	16.9%	3.7%	2.1%	.8%	55.1%
	Rural	29.3%	9.2%	2.5%	1.5%	2.4%	44.9%
Total		60.9%	26.0%	6.2%	3.7%	3.1%	100.0%

In Ethiopia, dowry is often regarded as the finest way of ensuring the married woman’s well-being and happiness in her marital home. In this study, of these married girls, more than half (52%) of them believed that the dowry they gave has positively affected their relationship with their partner and partner’s family.

Concubinage, which is the practice of having a secret sexual relationship with a married man or woman, is common around the world. The prevalence and practice of concubinage is varied among communities and cultures. Having a concubine is morally unacceptable in many communities, and it is sometimes legally punishable in countries like Ethiopia. But, it is common to see communities criticizing only the women to be a concubine. In this regard, 94.8% of the respondents responded that it is a taboo for a woman to be a concubine (Table 5). But, only 55.8 % of the respondents responded that it is a taboo for a man to be a concubine (Table 6). This is a clear manifestation of the prevalence of gender stereotyping in the community.

Table 5.

Respondent’s belief about a woman having a secret lover.

Age of respondents	Number of observations	Is it taboo for a married woman to have a secret lover?
Age of respondents	Number of observations	Yes	Percent	No	Percent
16–25 years old	211	199	94.3	12	5.7
26–34 years old	373	352	94.3	21	5.7
35–47 years old	461	437	94.7	24	5.3
48–64 years	165	159	96.3	6	3.7
65 and above	17	17	100	0	0
Total	1227	1164	94.8	63	5.2

Table 6.

Respondent’s belief about a man having a concubine.

Age of respondents	Number of observations	Is it taboo for a married man to be a concubine?
Age of respondents	Number of observations	Yes	Percent	No	Percent
16–25 years old	208	125	60.1	83	39.9
26–34 years old	372	217	58.3	155	41.7
35–47 years old	461	251	54.4	210	45.6
48–64 years	164	85	51.8	79	48.2
65 and above	17	4	23.5	13	76.5
Total	1222	682	55.8	540	44.2

Gender equality is both a goal and a way for socio-economic development. For this reason, the Ethiopian government is undertaking several measures to bring the women to the level where the men are. In this case, respecting the rights of women is a critical issue. Table 7 shows that the majority (82.6%) of the respondents claimed that women’s rights in their locality are being fully respected. On the other hand, 16.2% of the respondents responded that there are still gaps in the protection of women’s rights. In this case, age was a statistically significant predictor of the respondent’s perception with an odds ratio of 1.015 (p < 0.05).

Table 7.

Response on respecting rights of women.

The feelings of women in respondents’ localities toward the full fulfillment of their rights
		Frequency	Percent	Valid percent	Cumulative percent
Valid	Yes	1018	81.2	82.6	82.6
	No	200	16.0	16.2	98.8
	I can’t give answer	15	1.2	1.2	100.0
	Total	1233	98.4	100.0
Missing	99	20	1.6
Total		1253	100.0

A gender-equal society allows women to participate equally in all social, economic, and political affairs irrespective of the stereotyped gender roles. Besides, women themselves should participate, monitor, and lobby policy-making processes and other key actions of the government (Kabeer, 2005).

A significant number (17.8%) of the surveyed women confirmed that the local women believe that they are not equal to men. Here also, age was statistically a significant predictor of the respondent’s perception with an odds ratio of 1.019 (p < 0.05). This indicates that there is a remaining task for the government and other relevant bodies to raise the level of awareness and perception on such kind of women.

In both Tables 7 and 8, the residence of the respondents (rural/urban) was not a statistically significant predictor of the respondent’s perception on the protection of their rights and gender equality.

Table 8.

Response on gender equality.

The attitude of women in the localities of the respondents toward their equality with men
		Frequency	Percent	Valid percent	Cumulative percent
Valid	Yes	1005	80.2	81.6	81.6
	No	219	17.5	17.8	99.4
	I can’t give answer	7	0.6	0.6	100.0
	Total	1231	98.2	100.0
Missing	99	22	1.8
Total		1253	100.0

Most of the time, the government is in charge of securing and protecting the rights of women. Engendered macroeconomic policies and gender-sensitive budget initiatives are among the fundamental roles for government ensuring gender equality (Esim, 2000). In the survey, respondents were asked to rank the role of the government in securing the rights of women. Accordingly, most (65.1%) of the respondents replied that the government is securing the rights of women in a good manner. Only 6.3% of the respondents understate the role of the government in securing the rights of women.

Further, there are many non-governmental organizations working on issues related to women. Non-governmental organizations play a critical role in community transformation and gender equality (DeJaeghere and Wiger, 2013). In this study, the majority (33.7%) of the respondents replied that the role of NGOs in securing the rights of women is medium. But, 43.3% of the respondents replied that the role of NGOs is encouraging.

Gender-based violence in the Tigray region, Ethiopia

Gender-based violence can occur in many forms. Interpersonal violence can occur between family members, intimate partners, friends, acquaintances, and strangers. Intimate partner violence and sexual violence are the other forms of violence against women that are common in many parts of the world (Mikton et al., 2016).

Furthermore, there are many ways gender-based violence against women can be practiced in a community. Gender-based violence, although prevalent, is not universal. There are some societies that have limited violence against women such as the Wape of Papua New Guinea, where domestic violence is virtually absent (Levinson, 1989). This reality stands as evidence that social relations can be organized in such a way to minimize abuse.

Gender-based violence is common in Ethiopia across all regional states and in both urban and rural areas. Ethiopia has a Gender Inequality Index value of 0.502, ranking it 121 out of 160 countries in the 2017 index, as reported by the UNDP (2018). This indicates that the country has a long way to go to achieve gender equality. Although the family code was revised and new laws and policies prohibiting gender-based violence were applied, there are increasing reports of gender-based violence against women in Ethiopia (Hilina, 2015).

There are several factors to understand why gender-based violence practices are more widespread in some places than in others. At the individual level, factors include being abused as a child or witnessing marital violence in the home as a child, denying or rejecting fatherhood, and frequent use of alcohol (Tjaden and Thoennes, 2000). At the family level, males control wealth and decision-making within the family and marital conflict are the main predictors of abuse against women. At the community level, women’s isolation and lack of social supports, together with male peer groups that legitimize male violence, predict higher rates of violence (Koenig et al., 1999). At the social level, violence against women is most common where gender roles are rigidly defined and enforced where the concept of masculinity is linked to toughness, male honor, and dominance (Heise, 1998).

In our study, 21 gender-based violence incidents against women were identified and the experiences of the respondents were analyzed systematically. As shown in Figure 1, face slapping, verbal denunciations of women, unwanted kissing, forced sex, strangulation, kicking, threatening with a weapon of some kind, partaking in activities that invite sex, and improper sexual comments were found to be the dominant forms of gender-based violence against women experienced by the sampled respondents.

Figure 1.

Percentage of women experienced gender-based violence.

Worldwide, approximately 15 million adolescent girls have experienced forced sexual intercourse in their lifetime (UNICEF, 2017). In the vast majority of countries, adolescent girls are mostly at risk of forced sex by a current and/or former husband, partner, or boyfriend.

The other forms of gender-based violence against women like deprivation of food, tying up hands and/or legs, shooting at or stabbing, and being forcing to watch someone being physically/sexually assaulted were found to be relatively less frequent practices than others. Nonetheless, some attention-seeking gender-based violence practices were found at a higher level than one might expect. These include compelling women to engage in sex in exchange for something, detaining women against their will, subjecting females to improper sexual comments, removing or stripping women’s cloth, and disfiguring women’s bodies.

Gender-based violence varies across different zones. The practices of gender-based violence were slightly higher in the Eastern and Western parts of the region. In Mekelle, South, and Southeastern zones, the practice of gender-based violence was relatively lower than in the other parts of the region.

Further, as can be seen from Figure 2, the practice of gender-based violence against women was slightly higher in urban areas than in rural areas. It is only the practice of ‘compelling women to engage in sex’, which was slightly higher in rural areas. According to a World Health Organization report in 2005, gender-based violence committed by an intimate partner in rural areas of Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, Namibia, Peru, Tanzania, and Thailand was higher than their urban counterparts. By contrast, gender-based violence committed by non-partner in urban areas of those countries were higher than that of the occurrences in the rural areas.

Figure 2.

Prevalence rate of gender-based violence in rural and urban areas.

In most of the gender-based violence, husbands and armed individuals including policemen, soldiers, and guards are the perpetrators. Besides, armed individuals, public prosecutors, political administrators, and physicians contributed to the prevalence of these practices. And a study based on seven countries (Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, Namibia, Peru, Tanzania, and Thailand) revealed that gender-based violence committed by intimate partners were much higher than those committed by non-partner (WHO, 2005). Although there are various reasons that drive intimate partner violence against women, the demographic, social, and empowerment factors are prevalent (Lawoko, 2006). As reported by the surveyed women, it is the husband who mostly commits gender-based violence. Undermining women and verbal abuse by husbands were reported to be the most pervasive practices.

The Tigray region, because of its long history of internal and external wars, was a place where many armed individuals came from different parts of Ethiopia. This contributed to violence against women. As shown in Table 9, armed individuals accounted for 19.4% of threats of violence against women with a weapon. The prevalence of this practice was similar in both rural and urban areas.

Table 9.

Perpetrators of gender-based violence.

Practices	Perpetrator (in percent)
Practices	Husband	Armed-person	Others
Slapping face	83.1	7.3	9.6
Strangulation	82.8	8.3	8.9
Kicking	76.3	11.3	12.4
Threatened with a weapon of any kind	78.3	19.4	2.3
Subjected to improper sexual comments	82.9	13	4.1
Subjected to unwanted kissing	72.2	13.6	14.2
Doing some activities that invite sex	79.6	16	4.4
Compelled to engage in sex	87.3	10.8	1.9
Speaking things that can undermine/affect women	92.1	5.3	2.6

A government is a key actor in fighting against gender-based violence. Non-governmental organizations and other sections of the community also play a significant role. In this regard, most (56.8%) of the respondents replied that the role of the governmental and non-governmental organizations in challenging gender-based violence was important. Data gathered from the focus group discussion and key informant interviews show that the government is committed to addressing the problems that women are facing, yet more efforts are suggested to free women from violence.

The identified gender-based violence against women in Tigray region are summarized in Table 10.

Table 10.

A general summary of the reported cases of gender-based violence and perpetrators.

Gender-based violence practices	Percentage					Perpetrator (% age)
Gender-based violence practices	None	Rarely	Some-times	Usually	Not certain	Husband	Armed person	Others
Slapping face	66.1	21.5	6.1	2.6	3.7	83.1	7.3	9.6
Strangulation	82.6	11.3	2	0.8	3.3	82.8	8.3	8.9
Kicking	82	10.3	2.9	1.7	3.1	76.3	11.3	12.4
Tied up of hands/legs	90	5.1	0.7	0.1	4.1	52.5	37.4	10.1
Tied up by blind folded	91.8	3.5	0.5	–	4.2	67.3	23.6	9.1
Threatened with a weapon of any kind	84	10.3	1.3	0.7	3.7	78.3	19.4	2.3
Shot at or stabbed	89.3	6.1	0.5	0.4	3.7	72.2	23.3	4.5
Deprived of food, water or sleep	88.6	5.3	0.9	1.4	3.8	83.1	16.9
Experienced physical disfigurement of body	87.5	7.9	1.2	0.3	3.1	84.3	10.5	5.2
Detained against your will	87.8	8.1	0.5	0.4	3.2	29.9	50.5	19.6
Subjected to improper sexual comments	82.6	9.1	2.9	1.5	3.9	82.9	13	4.1
Forced to remove or stripped of your cloth	89.3	7.1	0.7	0.4	2.5	81.6	15.7	2.7
Subjected to unwanted kissing	77.3	15.6	3	0.9	3.2	72.2	13.6	14.2
Do some activities that invite sex	85	9.3	1.7	1	3	79.6	16	4.4
Beaten on sexual parts of body	91.2	4.8	0.2	0.7	3.1	68	22	10
Compelled to engage in sex	79.8	12.1	1.7	3	3.4	87.3	10.8	1.9
Speaking things that can undermine/affect women	68.5	15.8	5.6	5.7	4.4	92.1	5.3	2.6
Compelled to engage in sex to receive something	88.9	6.1	1.2	0.8	3	79.4	17.5	3.1
Forced to watch someone being physically assaulted	89.7	5.9	1	0.4	3	79	17.7	3.3
Forced to watch someone being sexually assaulted	91.5	4.4	0.5	0.6	3.1	79.5	18	2.5

Harmful traditional practices against women in the Tigray region, Ethiopia

The values and beliefs that a community possesses are reflected by practices. Whether it is harmful or beneficial, all communities in the world have their own cultural practices and beliefs. While many of the harmful practices generally harm all the community members, some others specifically harm certain groups, such as women and children.

All violations against women’s and girls’ rights may be described as harmful practices, but some of the forms of violence against women and girls are described as traditional, cultural, or religious often based in superstition by some community (OHCHR, 1995). Any act is harmful if it affects the psychic or physical health of humans. Thus, all gender-based violent practices can be harmful traditional practices, but not all harmful traditional practices are gender-based violence as some, like uvulectomy, are gender neutral.

Harmful traditional practices that specifically harm women and girls, as identified in the United Nations and the Rule of Law report, include female genital mutilation (FGM), force feeding of women, early marriage, the various taboos or practices which prevent women from controlling their own fertility, nutritional taboos and traditional birth practices, son preference and its implications for the status of the girl child, female infanticide, early pregnancy, and dowry.

According to Assefa et al. (2013), there are many more traditional harmful practices in Ethiopia, which include marriage by abduction, food taboos, wife inheritance, encouraging excessive fertility, massaging the abdomen of a pregnant woman, plucking fingernails of women prior to weddings, and application of cow dung to the umbilical cord at the time of delivery.

In this study, a total of 29 harmful traditional practices against women were identified in the Tigray region. Of these practices, six of them were found to be highly prevalent. As can be seen from Figure 3, undermining women’s participation in politics and social affairs was the most prevalent harmful traditional practice against women with an 84.1% occurrence rate. The respondents believed that 62.4% of the community supports the practice of undermining women’s participation in politics and social affairs.

Figure 3.

The occurrence of harmful traditional practices against women and societal attitudes.

Further, 71% of the respondents claimed that the practice of opposing women to choose their own partners is supported by the community. In addition, the practice of identifying foods that are not for women, opposing women choosing their own partner, and undermining women’s participation in politics and social affairs were found to be the top three harmful traditional beliefs supported by the respondents themselves with a rate of 54.9%, 77.1%, and 77.5%, respectively.

The occurrence of and societal attitude to these harmful traditional practices were found to be different in the rural and urban areas. As shown in Figure 4, except for the practices that oppose women choosing a partner and undermining women’s participation in politics and social affairs, all the other harmful traditional practices and percentage of the society supporting these practices were higher in rural areas.

Figure 4.

Harmful traditional practices against women in rural and urban areas of Tigray region.

Furthermore, arranged marriages, undermining girls who are not married, attributing sterility to women, not marrying girls from low economic status, identifying jobs that are not for women, and identifying jobs that are not for men were the other prevalent harmful traditional practices against women with an occurrence rate of 43.1–43.9%, as shown in Table 11.

Table 11.

Analysis of harmful traditional practices against women.

List of harmful traditional practices against women	Occurrence rate (% age)			Prevalence rate (% age)			Trend (% age)			Societal attitude (% age)		Respondents attitude (% age)		Current status (% age)		Who to blame (% age)
List of harmful traditional practices against women	Yes	No	Un	High	Med	Low	Inc	Dec	Nc	Sup	Opp	Sup	Opp	Stp	Con	Who to blame (% age)
Genital mutilation	11.7	77.3	11	8.8	30	61.2	7.4	79.3	13.3	31.4	68.6	24.8	75.2	27.2	72.8	Close relative (51.7)
Marriage arranged by family	43.9	49.6	6.5	25.6	45.2	29.2	25.1	65.7	9.2	54	46	32.7	67.3	11.7	88.3	Close relative (60.4)
Undermining girls who are not married	43.1	44	11.7	21.2	47.9	30.9	19.4	71	9.6	46.1	53.9	17.2	82.8	18.5	81.5	Local dwellers (66.1)
Respecting girls married at their early age	35.3	50.9	13.8	32	41.8	26.2	32.2	59	8.8	56.5	43.5	31.8	68.2	8.9	91.1	Local dwellers (53.5)
Assigning labor-intensive jobs for male, but the housework chorus for females	54.7	35.8	9.5	38.6	42	19.4	32.7	59.4	7.9	61.3	38.7	37.8	62.2	14.1	85.9	Local dwellers (61.3)
Forcing a widow to marry her brother in law	4.6	78.5	16.9	11.6	10.6	77.8	11.4	64.9	23.7	11.9	88.1	8.8	91.2	34.1	65.9	Local dwellers (56)
Preference for male children	50.5	40.9	8.6	39.6	41.8	18.6	37.2	55.9	6.9	61.9	38.1	28.9	71.1	16.7	83.3	Local dwellers (49.7)
Massaging pregnant women’s womb	4.3	73.2	22.5	9.7	16.8	73.5	11.2	67.9	20.9	14.6	85.4	9.1	90.9	44.4	55.6	Local dwellers (59.3)
Early marriage	21.2	67.3	11.5	10.2	41.4	48.4	7.8	84.7	7.5	28.5	71.5	9	91	16.7	83.3	Close relatives (38.4) and local dwellers (38.7)
Motivating very young girls to bear children	24.8	62.4	12.8	27.3	30.5	42.2	29.4	62.5	8.1	36.8	63.2	20	80	11.9	88.1	Close relatives (49.5)
Demotivating women against limiting the numbers of their children	24.5	63.5	12	26.8	38.4	34.8	28.4	64.2	7.4	42.6	57.4	24.9	75.1	12.8	87.2	Close relatives (45.8) and local dwellers (42.4)
Demotivating women against taking contraceptive	23.2	63.6	13.2	29.2	33	37.8	31.5	61.1	7.3	40.9	59.1	25.5	74.5	11.8	88.2	Close relatives (52.8)
Attributing sterility to women mostly	49.5	38.8	11.7	31.7	40.8	27.5	27.4	65.2	7.4	47.4	52.6	18.8	81.2	19.4	80.6	Local dwellers (52.8) and close relatives (41.4)
Marriage by abduction	5.4	79.9	14.7	5.7	21	73.3	10.8	72.5	16.7	10.6	89.4	12.3	87.7	41.9	58.1	Local dwellers (48.1)
Abusing girls who are not found virgin for marriage	37.2	49.7	13.1	24.5	42.7	32.8	20.5	72.2	7.3	46.8	53.2	19.6	80.4	14.4	85.6	Local dwellers (56.1)
Undermining women’s participation in politics and social affairs	62.4	29.1	8.5	47.1	40.5	12.4	73.4	21.9	4.7	84.1	15.9	77.5	22.5	16.5	83.5	Close relatives (35.6) and local dwellers (35.4)
Making men to decide social issues	28.9	58.8	12.3	32.3	41.4	26.3	31.8	56.1	12.1	39.6	60.4	22.5	77.5	29.4	70.6	Local dwellers (52.4)
Abhorring women in monthly cycle (menstruation)	10	75	15	12	37.6	50.4	12.3	79.4	8.3	19.1	80.9	11.8	88.2	18.6	81.4	Local dwellers (66.9)
Regarding monthly cycle as a result of curse on Eve	7.6	77.7	14.7	8.9	20.3	70.8	11.8	75.1	13.1	15.6	84.4	11.1	88.9	26.5	73.5	Local dwellers (75.5)
Attributing food taboos to women	18.6	66	15.4	19.8	36	44.2	21.6	65.1	13.3	40.2	59.8	24.6	75.4	8	92	Local dwellers (58.2)
Having lower attitude toward women	31.5	56.7	11.8	22.1	43.1	34.8	21.2	71.9	6.9	32.6	67.4	12.9	87.1	20.8	79.2	Local dwellers (70.8)
Opposing women choosing their own partner	70.1	24	5.9	53	37.8	9.2	76.2	20.6	3.2	71	29	77.1	22.9	11.2	88.8	Close relatives (40.5) and local dwellers (41.6)
Identifying foods that are not for women	27.5	55.5	17	31	42.6	26.4	47.5	41.8	10.6	60.3	39.7	54.9	45.1	15.1	84.9	Local dwellers (62.2)
Identifying jobs that are not for women	45.6	42.8	11.6	34.6	46.7	18.7	30.2	62.2	7.6	59.5	40.5	37.5	62.5	9.1	90.9	Local dwellers (63.5)
Identifying jobs that are not for men	47.2	41.6	11.2	38.4	44.2	17.4	33.8	58.2	8	60.6	39.4	36.7	63.3	8.3	91.7	Local dwellers (63.1)
Not marrying girls from low economic status	43.5	43.5	13	43.7	38	18.3	43.7	52.1	4.2	53.8	46.2	20.3	79.7	12.9	87.1	Local dwellers (52.3)
Women’s domestic abuse by their own husbands	24.8	55	20.2	36.9	22.7	40.4	38.6	51.8	9.6	26.9	73.1	13.9	86.1	8.2	91.8	Local dwellers (52)
Choosing women for marriage based on their beauty	61.3	27.3	11.4	54.1	35.2	10.7	59.8	35.2	5	60.5	39.5	35.3	64.7	11.9	88.1	Close relatives (49.8) and local dwellers (47.2)
Associating women to housework while men to non-housework jobs	56.6	31.5	11.9	43.3	40.9	15.8	36.2	60.3	3.4	61.3	38.7	30.9	69.1	8.9	91.1	Local dwellers (63.3)

Un: Unknown; Med: Medium; Inc: Increasing; Dec: Decreasing; Nc: No change; Opp: Opposing; Sup: Supporting; Stp: Stopped; Con: Continues.

Apart from these prevalent harmful traditional practices, there were also harmful traditional practices against women that have nearly vanished. These include massaging pregnant women’s womb (4.3% of occurrence), forcing a widow to marry her brother in law (4.6% of occurrence), marriage by abduction (5.4% of occurrence), and regarding the monthly cycle as a result of the curse on Eve (7.6% of occurrence).

The worldwide more sensitive harmful traditional practices like genital mutilation and early marriage were found to have an occurrence rate of 11.7% and 21.2%, respectively. But, 72.8% of the respondents believed that the practice of genital mutilation is still continuing. Besides, 83.3% of the respondents believed that the practice of early marriage is continuing. More importantly, 31.4% of the respondents claimed that the practice of genital mutilation is supported by the community, and 28.5% of the respondents said early marriage is supported by the community.

A study by UN Women (2018) shows at least 200 million women and girls alive today have undergone female genital mutilation in 30 countries. In most of these countries, the majority of girls were circumcised before the age of five. It is becoming a practice of global dimensions, particularly among migrant and refugee women and girls (UNICEF, 2016).

In Ethiopia, the practice of genital mutilation is very common in the eastern part of the country, mainly in the Somalia and Afar regional states with an occurrence rate of 100% and 96%, respectively (Assefa et al., 2013). Although the reasons for the persistence of the practice vary from place to place, the most common reasons for undergoing female genital mutilations in Ethiopia were: to increase matrimonial and marriage opportunities, to calm a girl and make her decent, to maintain the girls’ cleanliness, to preserve virginity, and to maintain the moral behavior of women in the society (Assefa et al., 2013).

The practice of genital mutilation is dramatically decreasing and popular attitudes toward the practice is improving. As can be seen in Table 11, more than 75% of the respondents were against the practice, and 79.3% of them believed that the practice is decreasing.

With regard to early marriage, it is estimated that 650 million women and girls worldwide were married before the age of 18 (UN Women, 2018). Although the global rate of early marriage has declined in the last two decades, the practice is still continuing in sub-Saharan Africa, where over four out of ten young women were married before they turn 18 (UNICEF, 2018).

Globally, the occurrence of early marriage varies from a high of 70% in South Asia to a low of 30% in South East Asia (Jensen and Thornton, 2003). In Africa, 42% of girls are married before the age of 18 (Action Aid, 2009). In Ethiopia, the number is higher than the continental average, which is 47% with a significant number (17%) of marriages under the age of 15 (Erulkar, 2013). In Ethiopia, the practice of early marriage ranges from 12% in Addis Ababa to 58% in the Benishangul-Gumuz region (CSA, 2012). Contrary to this, Assefa et al. (2013) reported that the prevalence of early marriage is higher in the northern part of the country, named Amhara and Tigray regions. Conforming societal norms and ensuring virginity are the common reasons given for the practice.

Attributing food taboos to women is another less recognized, but risky harmful traditional practice found in Ethiopia. Some nutritious foods are traditionally forbidden to women and girls, and considered taboo. These food items are generally known to be good sources of energy. The practice may lead to women’s malnutrition, the birth of low weight infants, infections, all types of diseases, and sometimes death (Kouyate, 2009).

In Ethiopia, a study conducted among 25 ethnic groups in central, eastern, and southern parts of Ethiopia (Kaluski et al., 2002) has reported that food items that are white in color (e.g. milk, fatty meat, porridge, potato, banana, etc.), clean vegetables, colostrum, and fruits are prohibited from being consumed by pregnant/lactating women and children. Hence, the diet of pregnant women is limited to cereals, which leads to under-nutrition.

In almost all of the harmful traditional practices against women, local dwellers and close relatives were claimed to be responsible for increasing the rate and trend of these practices. The occurrence, prevalence rate, trend, societal and respondent’s attitude, the current status of the harmful practice and responsible bodies are summarized in Table 11.

Governmental and other relevant non-governmental bodies are expected to play a significant role in changing the existing situation of harmful traditional practices. In this regard, most (68.9%) of the respondents replied that the governmental and non-governmental organizations are trying their best to end these practices. These data correspond with the data obtained from the focus group discussions and key informant interviews.

Generally, to prevent gender-based violence and harmful traditional practices against women and girls in Ethiopia, education, campaigns of awareness, sustainable resource allocation to support victims/survivors, ratification of the Maputo protocol and effective law enforcement institutions are some of the practical strategies that can be employed (Kedir and Admasachew, 2010). Moreover, there should be a capacity to fund and implement community-based interventions targeting vulnerable women (UN Women, 2014b).

Conclusions

In many cases, the reduction of gender-based violence against women and achieving gender equality as a policy goal is common to gender policies of various countries. In Ethiopia, it has been nearly 30 years since the government declared that gender equality is among the prioritized agendas. Ethiopia has ratified different conventions and standards for gender equality and women’s human rights in its own constitution and its national policy on women, which guarantee women’s equality and the protection of their human rights in social, economic, and political spheres of life.

Although committed to the global and regional standards, and enacting domestic laws and policies the promising progress made over the last three decades has often been compromised by deep-rooted stereotypes and limited capacities at different levels. The violence against women are diversified in magnitude and forms. This indicates that the government has to look into a new way of thinking and reacting to gender-based violence and harmful traditional practices against women.

Of these identified gender-based violence, slapping face, forced kissing, kicking, and derogatory sexist remarks were the most widely prevalent practices that need policy attention. Besides, undermining women’s participation in politics and social affairs, denying women’s right to choose their partners, assigning women to housework, the preference for male children, and the choice of wife based on their perceived beauty were the prevalent harmful traditional practices against women that require urgent action. Moreover, these harmful traditional practices were found to be highly supported in the community. Thus, raising the level of awareness and changing the societal attitude toward these harmful traditional practices could be the right ways of reacting to these problems.

Gender-based violence and harmful traditional practices against women were, most of the time, associated with rural areas. However, many of the identified gender-based violent practices were found to be slightly higher in urban areas than the rural areas. Although most of the harmful traditional practices were slightly higher in rural areas than in urban areas, denying women to choose their partners, and undermining women’s participation in politics and social affairs were found to be higher in urban areas.

Considering the different features that rural and urban areas have, a ‘one fits all approach’ cannot be effective in addressing these problems. Hence, an approach different from what has been carried out is required to address and halt the ever-persisting gender-based violence and harmful traditional practices in Ethiopia. Moreover, further research is required to come up with the driving factors of gender-based violence and harmful traditional practices against women in urban areas.

Footnotes

Funding

The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The authors received financial support of Ethiopian Birr 850,000 from Mekelle University for the research.

ORCID iD

Tewelde Gebre

Author biographies

Tewelde Gebre is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at Mekelle University - Institute of Environment, Gender and Development Studies. His research interests include environmental studies, climate change, rural development, gender and environment, and gender-based violence.

Fana Hagos (PhD) is an Assistant Professor of Law at Mekelle University - College of Law and Governance. She is currently the President of Supereme Court of Tigray Region. Her research intereset lies at the intersection of gender and the law, and human rights.

Gebreyesus Teklu (PhD) is an Associate Professor at Mekelle University – College of Social Sciences and Languages. He is currently chair-person of the Tigray – Amhara regions peace forum. His research interests include gender and conflict, conflict resolution, literature, and folklore.

Mekonnen Fisseha is an Assistant Professor of Law at Mekelle University - College of Law and Governance. His research interesets include rule of law and constitutionalism, human rights, gender and law, institution building, and federalism and governance.

Mesele Abera is an Assistant Professor of Developmental Studies at Mekelle University - Institute of Environment, Gender and Development Studies. His research interests include gender and development, environment and developement, gender-based violence, and climate change.

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