Half of Ethiopian women victims of domestic violence

Two Ethiopian women mime the action of the
Ethiopian security forces outside their tin shack in
the red light district of Addis Ababa's Merkato area.
(AFP/File/Marco Longari)

19 January, 2008

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) - Half of Ethiopian women are victims of domestic violence, the country's justice minister Dimegn Wube said in a statement received by AFP Saturday.

"The violence being committed against children and women is widespread," she said, adding that women faced various forms of violence ranging from physical harm to death.

She urged "stakeholders to fight domestic violence that is affecting half of Ethiopian women."

"Sources indicate that 79 percent of gender-based violence is committed in Ethiopia due to lack of education and the economic dependence of women on men," she said.

Ethiopia is the poorest country in the Horn of Africa with around 81 million inhabitants, half of them women.

Under the constitution they enjoy the same rights as men, but traditional social structures remain deeply entrenched and do women no favours.