Addis Abeba — Last week, an event unfolded that shook the entire country to its core; the story of seven-year-old Heaven Awot who was sexually violated and murdered by Getnet Bayih, father of three, and her mother's landlord, in August last year. When Heaven's body was discovered she was strangled, her lifeless body mutilated, and dumped with sand stuffed in her mouth. Her rapist and killer was sentenced to a mere 25 years in prison by a local court in the Amhara regional state, where he fielded an appeal, leading to public outrage and widespread calls for a death penalty to be imposed.
In recent years, Ethiopia, a country with a unique history and rich cultural heritage, has found itself mired in multiple conflicts, particularly in three of its biggest regions: Oromia, Amhara, and Tigray regional states that have made everything the country is known for unrecognizable.
Many of the utter devastation brought on by these violence extend far beyond the battlefield; sexual violence against women and girls is now seeping into the very fabric of society and disproportionately affecting the country's most vulnerable group. Most alarmingly, the rising tide of this gruesome violence is not just a tragic byproduct of these conflicts but a deliberate strategy of war emboldened by the government's failure to hold perpetrators accountable.
Nowhere is this more visible than the Tigray region, where women and girls have been subjected to systematic sexual violence used as weapons of war by various armed groups. A report by the now-defunct International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE) submitted to the UN Human Rights Council 54th session in September-October 2023 revealed the gruesome nature of sexual violence as a weapon of war unleashed against women and girls of Tigray during the two-year devastating war. "Across all zones and phases of the Tigray conflict, the Commission documented patterns of widespread and systematic rapes and sexual violence perpetrated against women and children. Such acts were carried out primarily by EDF [Eritrean Defense Force] members, also by or often in concert with ENDF [Ethiopian National Defense Forces], Amhara Special Forces, Afar Special Forces, and Fano. Multiple-perpetrator-rapes often involved members of different armed groups, which suggests collaboration between members of various armed forces and factions," the report said.
Sadly, although not with the same intensity and intent, women and girls in the region continue to suffer from sexual violence long after the war was brought to an end with a cessation of hostilities agreement signed in November 2023.
Reports of sexual violence in the context of conflict did also happen in the Amhara region. Amnesty International reported that "In the period beginning in July 2021 in which they exercised control over parts of the Amhara region, Tigrayan fighters have committed widespread rape and other forms of sexual violence against ethnic Amhara women and girls in several villages around Chenna. The 30 cases investigated by Amnesty International are not isolated; rather, they seem to be part of a pattern of similar violations repeatedly perpetrated by large numbers of Tigrayan fighters in different locations," Amnesty said in a report in 2022.
What is perhaps most alarming is the apparent inaction of the Ethiopian government in addressing these heinous crimes. Despite widespread documentation by international organizations, human rights groups, and the media, there has been a conspicuous lack of effort to investigate, prosecute, and punish those responsible. As a society, we have now reached the level where the impunity enjoyed by perpetrators is not only perpetuating the cycle of sexual violence but also sending a dangerous message that such crimes are tolerable in times of war, and can be expanded outside the context of war without the fear of accountability.
This inaction is not just a moral failing, which is a stain on humanity's conscience, but a violation of Ethiopia's obligations under international laws and a collective failure by gender-based advocacy groups operating in Ethiopia. Nothing can better exemplify this failure than the story of Heaven.
Heaven's mother, Abekyelesh Adeba's, desperate plea to the media was what brought the story to the surface; it was not one of the multiple gender-based advocacy groups in Ethiopia or the multi-billion funded state media outlets.
The story of Heaven is also the story of violence born out of impunity that is now knocking on Ethiopian households, threatening to unravel what is left of the Ethiopian social fabric.
The Ethiopian government must act decisively to address this crisis. First and foremost, there needs to be an immediate accountability mechanism to prosecute perpetrators of sexual violence against women and girls in conflict zones to prevent the risk of it becoming the new normal in non-conflict zones. This must include comprehensive and transparent accountability into all documented cases of violence against women and girls, with a commitment to bring those responsible to justice, regardless of their rank or affiliation.
The Ethiopian government's inaction in holding perpetrators accountable is not only a dereliction of its duty to protect the most vulnerable groups of citizens and uphold justice, but a signal of impunity. To invoke a powerful statement by former African Union Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, women not only constitute half of humankind but also give birth to the other half.
The international community also has a role to play. It must pressure the Ethiopian government to uphold its obligations to investigate and prosecute these crimes to ensure the cycle of impunity is cut short.
Needless to say, the trauma inflicted upon the victims of sexual violence is not only physical but psychological, tearing apart families and communities. The scars will take generations to heal if they ever do and the trauma cannot be undone, but steps can be taken to help them rebuild their lives and what is left of the Ethiopian social fabric before it is too late. Among such steps is support to the survivors of these crimes, including medical care, and psychological support that must be given equal attention.