Shelters For Women And Girls Who Are Survivors Of Violence In Ethiopia

This national assessment, published by UN Women, reports on the "psycho-social impacts of [sexual and gender-based] violence" that affect women and girl survivors of attacks in Ethiopia. In addition, the report critically reviews the status of  national and regional services available to SGBV survivors, including those in the domains of rehabilitation, reintegration, and referral systems, for example.

Read the foreward of the report below, or download the full report published by UN Women on their website here.

Abstract:
"This publication is a study commissioned by UN Women Ethiopia to assess the availability, accessibility, quality and demand for rehabilitative and reintegration services for women and girl-survivors of violence in Ethiopia. This national assessment further examines the existing referral systems, both at national and regional levels, along with other response mechanisms in place to present good practices, major challenges and recommendations. The study employed various data collection methods to gather data from primary and secondary sources including survivors, staff members in shelters, service providers, government representatives, civil society organizations, UN agencies and donors." (Source)

________________________________________________________

Foreword:

"Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) is one of the most systematic and widespread violations of human rights globally. It may occur against any woman or girl regardless of nationality, age or socio-economic status. In Ethiopia, violence against women and girls continues to be a major challenge and a threat to women’s empowerment. Women and girls face physical, psychological and sexual abuses that undermine their health and ability to earn livelihoods; disrupt their social systems and relationships; and particularly for girls, robs them of their childhood and education.

According to the 2011 Ethiopia Demographic Health Survey (EDHS), two of every three women (68%) and one of every two men (45%) believe that wife beating is justified under specific circumstance. The survey also indicated that 41% of Ethiopian women aged 20-24 had been married before they reached 18 years of age, while 8% of those aged 15-19 years were married before their 15th birthday.

The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) has put in place appropriate and effective legal and policy provisions to promote the rights of women and girls; and these are enshrined in the Constitution (1995). Ethiopia has also ratified many of the international and continental instruments that promote and protect women’s rights, including among others, the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa. In addition, the FDRE has established specific legal measures and actions to address VAWG, including, inter alia, the Revised Family Law (2000), and Revised Criminal Code (2005). In this connection, the government has also put in place the requisite institutional mechanisms at federal and regional levels, including (i) the establishment of Women, Children and Youth Affairs Offices, (ii) the Child and Women Protection Units within the various police units, (iii) a Special Bench for VAW cases within the Federal Criminal Court, (iv) Child-friendly courts, and (v) Child crime investigations units within the Ministry and Bureaus of Justice.

However, despite these legislative and institutional provisions, support for the rehabilitation and reintegration of survivors of violence is still limited. Women and girls still lack access to coordinated, quality essential services, and as a result, continue to be affected by the psycho-social impacts of violence, which in some cases has resulted in death by suicide or from depression. In the absence of effective rehabilitative and psycho-social support, women and girl-survivors of violence have found very little incentive to report the violence and seek justice against the perpetrators. UN Women and other development partners have been supporting a number of initiatives and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), but this support has not had sufficient scale to effectively address the challenges faced by women and girl-survivors of violence in a holistic manner and in accordance with international standards.

It is against this background that The United Nations entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) commissioned this assessment on “the Availability, Accessibility, Quality and Demand for Rehabilitative and Reintegration Services for Women and Girl- Survivors of Violence in Ethiopia”. The assessment will add to the evidence-base for planning and development of appropriate interventions by state actors and other development partners, by identifying and mapping the existing rehabilitative and reintegration service centers; and compiling an inventory of their services, gaps and current barriers.

UN Women would like to underline the opportune timing of this assessment which comes at a time when the country has launched its Second Growth and Transformational Plan (GTP), which for the first time has prioritized ending VAWG, and includes specific targets for the establishment of shelters for survivors within the sectoral plan of the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MoWCA). The assessment will also provide important baseline data for the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) 2016 – 2020, which also has targets for establishing rehabilitation and reintegration centres.

On behalf of UN Women, I would like to express our gratitude to our civil society partners who provided invaluable information throughout the course of the research. We would like to say a special ‘thank you’ to the women and girl survivors of violence in the various shelters who had the courage and passion to relive their ordeals and walk us through their frustrations and hopes for the future.

We would also like to express our sincere appreciation to the MoWCA, Ministry of Justice (MOJ), Ministry of Health (MOH), Federal Police Commission (FPC), as well as their respective regional bureaus for their valuable contribution and comments to enrich the report. UN Women also wishes to thank all the participants of the validation workshop, held in Addis Ababa on November 16, 2015, including Government, UN agencies development partners and civil society organizations.

I wish to take this opportunity to thank the team of consultants – Ms. Meron Genene (team leader), Ms. Tsion Yohannes and Ms. Senait Bitew – who undertook the assessment on behalf of UN Women. I also wish to acknowledge the contribution of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) experts for their useful comments and review of the first draft. Our special thanks also go to Dr. Meron Teferi for the final editing of the draft; and to Systron Advertising PLC for the graphics and design.

Finally, UN Women is grateful to the Irish Aid for its generous financial support under the UN Women Programme “Preventing and Responding to Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG)”, which made the publication of this report possible and in particular to Ms. Bizuwork Ketete and Ms. Makda Getachew for their continued technical support."

- Ms. Letty Chiwara, UN Women Representative to Ethiopia, AU and UNECA