Women in Ethiopia

Women in Ethiopia

Ethiopian women in Addis Ababa
General Statistics
Maternal mortality (per 100,000)	350 (2010)
Women in parliament	25.5% (2012)
Women over 25 with secondary education	NA
Women in labour force	78.4% (2011)
Gender Inequality Index[1]
Value	0.520 (2021)
Rank	129th out of 191
Global Gender Gap Index[2]
Value	0.710 (2022)
Rank	74th out of 146

There have been several studies concerning women in Ethiopia. Historically, elite and powerful women in Ethiopia have been visible as administrators and warriors. This never translated into any benefit to improve the rights of women, but it had meant that women could inherit and own property and act as advisors on important communal and tribal matters. As late as the first part of the 20th century, Queen Menen, consort of Emperor Haile Selassie I, had a decisive role in running the Ethiopian Empire. Workit and Mestayit regents to their minor sons have been held responsible for their provinces. They owed their rights to landed property because of a special type of land tenure that expected tenants to serve as militia to overlords, irrespective of gender. In 1896, Empress Tayetu Betul, wife of Emperor Menelik II, actively advised the government and participated in defending the country from Italian invasion. Prominent and other landowning women fought against the second invasion in 1935–41. With the assistance of European advisors, women in the ensuing period were kept out of the army and politics, even as advisors. Instead, they were restricted to family and household work of raising children and cooking. With a steady increase in female representation in education, they have started to undertake nursing, teaching, and other similarly supportive roles. Over the 2018–2019 period, their gradual participation in state politics has been increasing at a steady pace.^[3][4]