UNICEF backs moves to end girl abductions in Ethiopia

ARSI, Ethiopia, Nov 14, 2004 (PANA) — Since the day a group of 15 boys assailed on Chaltu Jeylu, not only her life, but her attitude toward men as well changed, and probably for ever.

The 14-year-old girl was on her way to school when she came face to face with the gang. They beat her and carried her off to a village far from her home.

Chaltu was a target of the traditional practice known locally as “marriage by abduction”. She was raped by her attackers and consequently became pregnant.

According to surveys conducted by the National Committee on
Traditional Practices of Ethiopia (NCTPE), the prevalence of
marriage by abduction is 80 percent in the country’s largest
region of Oromia, where Chaltu lives. The region has a population of nearly 20 million.

Marriage by abduction is as high as 92 percent in the
neighbouring but lesser populated Southern Nations Nationalities
and Peoples Region (SNNPR). Surveys by NCTPE indicate a national
average of 69 percent.

“In the previous years, it started as a cultural tradition. When
[families] didn’t have the money to pay the parents of the girl,
they abducted them,” said Tsegaye Ayane, vice head of the
Education Bureau in Sude Woreda (district).

“It’s a very serious problem in the Woreda. At present the
community recognises the problem and they are taking measure to
bring back girls who drop out [of school] due to the abduction
problem,” he explained.

Many times the boy’s parents condone the abduction because they
cannot afford the bride price traditionally required in Oromia
region. Village elders would mediate between the families and
discourage girls from pressing charges and going to court against
their attackers.

Even when a man is convicted of marriage by abduction, few serve
more than a couple years in jail, if any time at all.

Chaltu ran away from her abductor and returned to her family’s
home. Now she is going to court to try and get justice, but she
faces an uphill battle.

Her father, who had received 400 birr (less than $50) and a horse
as payment by the abductor’s family, was forced to return the
bride price (money and horse). But because he was unable to pay
back, he forced Chaltu to give her 10-month-old son, Gebril, back
to the boy’s family as compensation.

“My father hates me still. He says go back to your husband, but
my mother says go get an education,” Chaltu said.

“I’m very angry, because he (the abductor) should be punished,
because he did illegal things to me. I would like my baby to be
with me. My father and the elders made me give him back”.

Marriage by abduction has many adverse effects on the girls and
their communities in Ethiopia, including perpetuating poverty,
violating the human rights of the girls involved, causing
permanent damage to their developing bodies, encouraging the
transmission of HIV/AIDS and forcing girls to drop out of school.

“Marriage by abduction really means child rape,” said UNICEF
Representative Bjorn Ljungqvist during a recent tour of the
region of Oromia.

“These girls are being violated physically and emotionally. We
must work together to educate the boys, girls and communities as
a whole that this is not an acceptable practice. We all must work
together to stop these acts of violence,” he told local officials
and villagers.

Those who have been victims of marriage by abduction are termed
“gusumeti”, and derided as non-virgins by the local community.
Girls who reject their attackers and return to their villages are
shunned, as are their families.

The immense pressure for the affected girls to accept their fate
is very perceptible.

“The community doesn’t have a good attitude when she is returned.
The [village] elders, when she comes back, will ask the parents
to return her to her abductor,” said Yinabo Nura, head of the
Woreda’s Women’s Affairs Office.

“If they say no, they are not respected. After she’s abducted,
the community sees her as if she is married”.

Samara Umare Kedir, who narrowly escaped abduction, recounted her
ordeal nervously rubbing her headscarf across her hand, scarred
from struggling against her attacker.

She too was out with a friend to collect water when a boy she
knew tried to abduct her with the help of his brother.

“When I went to the river to fetch water, he came at me. I was
carrying the pot. When he picked up the pot I screamed. Then his
brother came — one catching my left hand and one catching my
right hand. They pulled me to the ground. My friend was
screaming. They beat me with a stick until my fingers were
broken,” said 12-year-old Samara.

“I yelled loudly, but they continued to beat me until my
relatives came, and they ran away”.

Samara is one of the lucky ones. Her attacker is currently
serving a three-year term in jail for the beating she suffered.

Rahel Worku, a 20-year-old junior nurse who treated Samara’s
injuries, recalled the incident saying: “She was harshly beaten
and her hands and legs were swollen. She was very weak when she
was brought to me”.

“They are very young girls and their bodies are not matured
enough, so they are injured. They are also affected medically and
psychologically”.

UNICEF is working with the regional Education and Women’s Affairs
Bureaux to educate students and communities that marriage by
abduction is not an acceptable cultural practice, but a violation
of basic human rights.

Elders are being sensitised to the physical and mental damage
that is inflicted on girls who are abducted.

The elders are also asked to urge parents in their communities to
keep their daughters in school. In addition, girls’ advisory
groups are being set up at schools as a support network.

Victims of such attacks are being encouraged to take legal action
to prosecute offenders and, hopefully, stem the tide of marriage
by abduction.