What is EWLA and what is its mission?
EWLA is a non-partisan, non-governmental association established in 1995.It has six branches offices in Diredawa, Assosa, Awasa, Gambela, Bahirdar and with 56 volunteer committees under them. We have three core programs legal aid and assistance, public education, and research and advocacy. The legal aid and assistance service offices are found in the ten sub cities of Addis and in the regional branch offices. The legal and assistance services include mediation, writing court briefs, representation in courts, providing temporary shelters and writing various letters to governmental and non-governmental administrators. The Public education and advocacy educates the public through different media, the national radio, and on FM, not only in Addis but also in Awassa, Diredawa and Bahirdar. We have bought a page in one of the newspapers in Addis and there are times we use television to present dramas that are based on true stories. Due to the expense and editorial polices of the electronic media, we are discouraged to do more. We have magazines biannually published in Amharic and English, and a journal published once in a year, which includes research extracts of the year conducted by the organization.
Its been ten years. What are the core achievements of the association to date?
We have been very successful in bringing changes regarding family law and penal law. It does not mean we are the only advocates for the revision of those laws, but we do have research departments. We have been conducting research taking and identifying issues from the legal aid treatment center and based on the findings, we started advocating for the revisions. We prepared a proposal for the House of People’s Representatives as we had been given the chance to defend our position. Almost 90 percent of our demands were met in the revision of the penal and family laws. However, there are issues outstanding in both laws especially in the penal law. Issues of sexual harassment are still not incorporated so we are lobbying for their revision. Regarding sexual harassment, we conducted a two year long study and found out that 80 percent of girls are subjected to sexual harassment one way or another. Actually, there is a single provision in the law, that is article 625, that only includes sexual harassment in an institution or in schools where the employee, teacher, or directly related persons abuse their authority to commit the act.
Is this related to domestic violence?
It is different. Actually, domestic violence has been recognized in the revised penal law. It only includes those who are in marriage and those who are not married but live in irregular unions. But we have the feeling it has to go beyond that. Because it is some thing done behind closed doors, it has to include partners like boy friend-girl friend relations, divorcé couples, children and relatives. Domestic violence is defined in a broad way in other countries, so due to the limited definition given in our penal code, I think there are roads which are not covered by our penal law. But sexual harassment is really different. First of all, it is not defined and it is very difficult to understand what it is. It can be any unwelcome act that can be shown even in expression of sexual jokes and likes. Youngsters especially, do not know what sexual harassment means. When we were doing the questionnaire, the first item was, ‘Have you ever been sexually harassed?’, and they would automatically say no, because they usually consider it as being rape. But when you start asking them specific questions like, Have you ever been a victim of sexual jokes or any offensive act, they replied, Yes When you define what it means in a clear way, almost 80% of the girls under study are subject to the violence. Unless you prevent it early, the next step will be more grief and we can witness many incidents like Hermela’s case. It started with stalking and harassing but it ended up as a violent act like stabbing, attempted murder and so on. Unless we put in place some mechanism where girls could be protected from further abuse, harassment, and threats, to provide them only with the law is senseless. Most people consider that if a bodily injury is not inflicted on a girl they would not consider it as a crime or abuse. Thats why we wanted to address the issue of harassment on the Saturday event.
What challenges does the association face while fighting for women’s rights?
Challenges are every where. We have faced many , especially when we were advocating for the revision of criminal law on the issue of abortion. We are very sensitive about this issue. It is very difficult to discuss the issue of marital rape. It is when we relate marital rape with HIV/AIDS that people give their attention. Women are also not willing to tell about the sexual behavior of their husbands and it is only when the issue of HIV is raised that they share their feelings and start listening. In addition, there are also challenges when we deal about domestic violence and rape issues. Speaking of rape, there are people who argue that it is the result of provocative dress and body movement by girls. It amazes me why people think like this because victims of rape are not only adults, There are who have not attained to even the age of one; how could an eleven month old baby provoke a 65 year old man sexually? We are human beings gifted, with consciousness, we know what is right, and what makes us different us from wild animals. As an example, I usually mention the way
Hamer women dress. They are naked above the waist but does this provoke the men? Are Hamer men not sexually active? People could be attracted to this kind of thing, but this does not give them a right to go beyond wishing to have that and asking, offering or proposing, and when the response is no, it means no. I personally think it has to stop there.
What activity do the 52 volunteer committees participate in?
They provide legal aid and give mediation service at the sub city level. The public in their locality give power, trust and often they end up mediating between couples or disputing parties. They also educate the public, and we do manage to get a good relation ship with local administrative and authorities. They give us a very help. They are not on our staff but only as volunteers. We pay them for stationery supplies and house rent. We provide them with training and different materials to assist them and if they find that the case is beyond their capacity they will refer it to the branch or the head office.
Do you think it is difficult to prove the act of sexual harassment?
There are ways that other countries apply for this. Some times, sexual harassment on the street can be witnessed; it is not a one-time act. More over, I do not think we have to allow this kind of violence just because it is difficult to prove. We have to be able to empower the people of how they would be protected and encourage institutions to have policies on sexual harassment at offices and schools.
What shall we expect from the revised law?
Whenever requesting for revision of laws, or even directives, it is not easy, it takes time and from our experience in the past, it has taken us a long time for lobbying. However, it was an enabling environment for us to lobby because we have a constitution based on eliminating all the harmful traditional practices and any discriminatory laws. When we conducted research on sexual harassment, the House of People’s Representatives suggested to have as much of the data as possible.
Based on the recommendations from the representatives, we tried to gather as much data as we could so I do not think there is a way they would not accept the revisions. Whenever revising or enacting a law, every word should be
studied, so the next step would be what kind of situations should be incorporated in each provision. I think I am positive that they are to accept it even though I am not sure of exactly when. Ethiopia is one of the signatories of international conventions. There should be different ways to address this issue because people have to know what sexual harassment really is. A single provision does not provide a clear definition of what amount of act is harassment ant that is what the law should include in power balance situations such as work places, schools and so on. Sexual harassment is not sexual relations, it goes beyond that. Our law only deals with the situation of sexual relations by using power.
What makes Kamilat’s case different from others that were reported to your association?
To the knowledge of our organization, Kamilat’s case is the fourth. What makes her case different is that it was aired on television and people got angry. It was a major crime that disfigured her. People always need a testimony, a live witness. Our organization hears such things every day. It has come to be our every day situation.. Actually, Kamilat’s have came to us and reported the case right after the incident occurred. It was very disturbing and we started following the case just like others cases Therefore, her story is different for other people but for the organization, this was the fourth, We had cases in Awassa, Debreberhan and in Addis too. The gravity of the incident is severe in Kamila’s case.
When cases like this happen we feature the story on, newspapers. However we have to be careful, because such issues need delicate handling. For instance, the accused might not be arrested or might be under police investigation so we should not publicize the issue recklessly.
Do you work with women’s associations at grass roots level?
We do but not directly with the kebele level. Rather, as I said, we have offices at sub city level. We provide legal training for members of the women’s desk. Based on our partner ship agreements, we work in collaboration and if they need any legal training, we are there to help. The advantage of working with these desks is that they have governmental structure and we try to use it to address some of our issues.
How many signatures did you get at the Saturday petition?
We have not counted them yet. I have been told its up to 400.