Op-Ed: How Can the U.S. and E.U. Help Combat Gender-Based Violence and Rape as a Weapon of War in Tigray, Ethiopia
Wednesday, April 28, 2021
By: Fikir Zelalem
Ethiopia is currently facing a violent conflict in the northern part of the country, Tigray. The Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, declared war on the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) in November of 2020. The fight broke out as a response to TPLF’S escalating tension and the holding of elections by TPLF, which the prime minister postponed. To aid Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s military, soldiers from neighboring country Eritrea have been fighting against TPLF in Tigray. Since November, women living in Tigray have been facing violent gender-based violence by both Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers and Amhara-based militia with the intent of ethnic cleansing. Genocide, as defined by the U.N., includes crimes against women and preventing them from giving birth. Article II, 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the Genocide Convention) the United Nations, defined genocide into four sections, one of them stating “Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.” Various reports have shown that Eritrean and Ethiopian soldiers are deliberately attacking women’s reproductive parts to prevent any Tigray women from having children. Women in Tigray are being raped by HIV-positive men and ruining their body parts as a means of ethnic cleansing. A report by the United Nations stated that 500 women from five different clinics in the region have reported being victims of rape and other gender-based physical and psychological abuse by both Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers. The number of women who are victims of these atrocities is estimated to be higher due to lack of access to medical services and wide regional blackout by the government of Ethiopia. An increasing number of women in the Tigray region have been reporting being victims of rape, gang rape, and family members being forced to rape members of their own family at gunpoint. The U.N.’s representative, Chief Mark Lowcock, spoke with the United Nations Security Council in which he expressed his growing concern regarding the war in Tigray. The U.N.’s representative, Chief Mark Lowcock, stated, “gang rape, with multiple men assaulting the victim; in some cases, women have been repeatedly raped over days.” He also said that young girls as young as eight years old had also been targeted by military personnel belonging to the Ethiopian and Eritrean military. The Ethiopian government is entirely responsible for the ongoing crisis in the Tigray region, in which the international community needs to hold responsible parties accountable. The country needs to come into a peaceful negotiation with involved parties. The recovery process will require a set of policies devoted to women who were victims of gender-based violence. An extensive monitoring and evaluation process of current and previous country national action plans, including gender analysis of women’s participation in the Ethiopian military, ensures women’s security during conflict and violence.
An article published by The New York Times on April 1, 2021, entails a detailed interview with 18-year-old violence survivor Mona. Mona recounted the attack that took place in her home by an Ethiopian soldier. In the interview, mona told The New York Times the soldier came into her house and ordered her grandfather to rape his granddaughter, Mona. When her grandfather refused, the soldier shot Mona’s grandfather and proceeded with the attack against Mona. When Mona tried to defend herself from being raped by the soldier, he shot her multiple times, resulting in an amputated arm. It is an inevitable fact that women and young girls are often targeted during conflict situations. A commitment to ensuring women’s security during and post-conflict should be a top priority by every nation globally, especially ones prone to conflict.
To hold the Ethiopian government accountable, the international community, mainly the United States and European Union, need to intervene and conduct an external investigation of the current situation. President Biden’s foreign policy in Ethiopia needs to prioritize conflict prevention and reconciliation by devoting to deliver assistance to the population in Tigray. The U.S. and E.U. can provide assistance through food, health care, STD medicines and testing kits, and emergency contraception.
To prevent further abuse of women and various atrocities, the government of Ethiopia needs to prioritize the security of women and move forward into reconciliation and peacemaking. The government of Ethiopia needs to switch its gears when it comes to gender issues entirely. While considering the cultural and societal attitudes towards women, it is crucial to structure every aspect of the country from a gender-inclusive lens. The government of Ethiopia needs to lift the current blackout and remove Eritrean soldiers to cooperate with both the U.S. and E.U. in their efforts to reach Tigray by focusing and prioritizing policies centered on gender. The U.S., a longtime ally to Ethiopia, needs to focus on providing women in the Tigray region with medical assistance, such as making healthcare accessible to women who are victims of gender-based violence. Healthcare services for women victims of violence from the war include making abortion accessible for women and providing them with numerary medical care during and after the conflict. President Bidens administration, with the partnership of the E.U., has to focus its foreign policy objective with Ethiopia by presenting the issue to the United Nations Security Council for review to build and sustain peace in the horn of Africa.
References
1. Nichols, Michelle. “Men Forced to Rape Family Members in Ethiopia’s Tigray, U.N. Says.” Reuters. March 25, 2021. Accessed April 29, 2021. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ethiopia-conflict-un-idUSKBN2BH2ZC.
2. “U.N. Security Council, for First Time, Declares Concern about Ethiopia’s Tigray.” Reuters. April 22, 2021. Accessed April 29, 2021. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/un-security-council-notes-concern-over-humanitarian-situation-tigray-2021-04-22/.
3. Walsh, Declan. “‘They Told Us Not to Resist’: Sexual Violence Pervades Ethiopia’s War.” The New York Times. April 01, 2021. Accessed April 29, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/01/world/africa/ethiopia-tigray-sexual-assault.html.
