The Problems of Legal Gaps to the Protection of Women Against Domestic Violence in Ethiopia

Lamessa Gudeta Guder

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijls.20190202.11

| Peer-Reviewed

The Problems of Legal Gaps to the Protection of Women Against Domestic Violence in Ethiopia

Lamessa Gudeta Guder

Published in International Journal of Law and Society (Volume 2, Issue 2)

Received: 8 June 2019 Accepted: 11 July 2019 Published: 23 July 2019

Views: Downloads:

Download PDF

Share This Article

Twitter
Linked In
Facebook

Abstract

Domestic violence is the most common form of violence experienced by women around the world which is directed by their intimate partner and other family members, and manifested through; physical, sexual, psychological and economic abuse. Domestic violence against women exists in countries with varying social, political, economic, and cultural structures, and its pervasiveness signifies that the problem does not originate with the pathology of an individual person. In Ethiopia, domestic violence is very prevalent throughout the country. However, building strong legal frame work is a cornerstone for the protection of women’s rights against any sexual based discrimination and violence. Accordingly, targeting at providing better protection to the rights of women, Ethiopia has attempted to undertaken significant ‘gender-sensitive’ legislative reforms after the down fall of military junta. Foremost among these laws; the 1995 FDRE constitution, the 2003 Revised Family Law and the 2005 Revised Criminal Code are indicative. However, regarding the scope of coverage of laws dealing with VAW, the Ethiopian legal framework cascades dump of the internationally accepted standards. Different forms of violence against women have not be criminalized in the way of understanding the complexity nature of the violence though international standards require States to ensure that forms of violence against women are included in criminal law as criminal acts.

Published in	International Journal of Law and Society (Volume 2, Issue 2)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijls.20190202.11
Page(s)	16-21
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2019. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Domestic Violence, Legal Framework, Women, Criminalize, Physical, Sexual

References

[1]	The Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Proclamation No. 1/1995 Article 9 (4).
[2]	Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (adopted 18 December 1979, entered into force on 3 September 1981) United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1249, article 1, accessed 18 April 2019.
[3]	African Union, Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, 11 July 2003, UN, Commission on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, General Recommendation No. 19: Violence Against Women, 11th Sess., 4, U. N. Doc. A/47/38 (1993).
[4]	FDRE Criminal Code (n 2) Article 564.
[5]	FDRE Criminal Code (n 2) Article 555-560.
[6]	Myhill A, et al, Rape and Sexual Assault of Women: The Extent and Nature of the Problem: Findings from the British Crime Survey (Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate 2002) 42.
[7]	Pracher M, ‘The Marital Rape Exemption: A Violation of a Woman's Right of Privacy’ (1981) 11 Golden Gate University L Rev. 3.
[8]	Sharma K, Behind the Locked Doors: The Evil of Marital Rape, accessed 4 April 2019.
[9]	Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, Concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women-Ethiopia Forty-ninth Session, 11-29 July, 2011, para 21.
[10]	An interview conducted with prosecutor by researcher on 22 April 2018.
[11]	An interview conducted with the court by researcher on 21 April 2018.
[12]	FDRE Criminal code (n 2) article (607-619).
[13]	FDRE Criminal code (n 2) Article (580-585).
[14]	UNDAW, Good practices in combating and eliminating violence against women, United nations division for the advancement of women (17- 20 May 2005 Vienna, Austria) 12.
[15]	Interviews conducted with professional of women and child affairs by the researcher at Jimma town on 12 April 2018.
[16]	Civil Code of the Empire of Ethiopia, Proclamation No. 165 / 1960 Article 2035.
[17]	UNDAW, Good practices in combating and eliminating violence against women, United nations division for the advancement of women (17- 20 May 2005 Vienna, Austria) 23.
[18]	FDRE Criminal code (n 2) -see provision; trafficking women (article 597), prostitution of another for gain (article 634), and physical violence within marriage or in an irregular union (article 564), abduction, (articles 587, 590), Female Genital Mutilation (articles 565-6), and early marriage (article 649).

Cite This Article

Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Lamessa Gudeta Guder. (2019). The Problems of Legal Gaps to the Protection of Women Against Domestic Violence in Ethiopia. International Journal of Law and Society, 2(2), 16-21. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20190202.11

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Lamessa Gudeta Guder. The Problems of Legal Gaps to the Protection of Women Against Domestic Violence in Ethiopia. Int. J. Law Soc. 2019, 2(2), 16-21. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20190202.11

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Lamessa Gudeta Guder. The Problems of Legal Gaps to the Protection of Women Against Domestic Violence in Ethiopia. Int J Law Soc. 2019;2(2):16-21. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20190202.11

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ijls.20190202.11,
  author = {Lamessa Gudeta Guder},
  title = {The Problems of Legal Gaps to the Protection of Women Against Domestic Violence in Ethiopia},
  journal = {International Journal of Law and Society},
  volume = {2},
  number = {2},
  pages = {16-21},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijls.20190202.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20190202.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijls.20190202.11},
  abstract = {Domestic violence is the most common form of violence experienced by women around the world which is directed by their intimate partner and other family members, and manifested through; physical, sexual, psychological and economic abuse. Domestic violence against women exists in countries with varying social, political, economic, and cultural structures, and its pervasiveness signifies that the problem does not originate with the pathology of an individual person. In Ethiopia, domestic violence is very prevalent throughout the country. However, building strong legal frame work is a cornerstone for the protection of women’s rights against any sexual based discrimination and violence. Accordingly, targeting at providing better protection to the rights of women, Ethiopia has attempted to undertaken significant ‘gender-sensitive’ legislative reforms after the down fall of military junta. Foremost among these laws; the 1995 FDRE constitution, the 2003 Revised Family Law and the 2005 Revised Criminal Code are indicative. However, regarding the scope of coverage of laws dealing with VAW, the Ethiopian legal framework cascades dump of the internationally accepted standards. Different forms of violence against women have not be criminalized in the way of understanding the complexity nature of the violence though international standards require States to ensure that forms of violence against women are included in criminal law as criminal acts.},
 year = {2019}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - The Problems of Legal Gaps to the Protection of Women Against Domestic Violence in Ethiopia
AU  - Lamessa Gudeta Guder
Y1  - 2019/07/23
PY  - 2019
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20190202.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijls.20190202.11
T2  - International Journal of Law and Society
JF  - International Journal of Law and Society
JO  - International Journal of Law and Society
SP  - 16
EP  - 21
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2640-1908
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20190202.11
AB  - Domestic violence is the most common form of violence experienced by women around the world which is directed by their intimate partner and other family members, and manifested through; physical, sexual, psychological and economic abuse. Domestic violence against women exists in countries with varying social, political, economic, and cultural structures, and its pervasiveness signifies that the problem does not originate with the pathology of an individual person. In Ethiopia, domestic violence is very prevalent throughout the country. However, building strong legal frame work is a cornerstone for the protection of women’s rights against any sexual based discrimination and violence. Accordingly, targeting at providing better protection to the rights of women, Ethiopia has attempted to undertaken significant ‘gender-sensitive’ legislative reforms after the down fall of military junta. Foremost among these laws; the 1995 FDRE constitution, the 2003 Revised Family Law and the 2005 Revised Criminal Code are indicative. However, regarding the scope of coverage of laws dealing with VAW, the Ethiopian legal framework cascades dump of the internationally accepted standards. Different forms of violence against women have not be criminalized in the way of understanding the complexity nature of the violence though international standards require States to ensure that forms of violence against women are included in criminal law as criminal acts.
VL  - 2
IS  - 2
ER  -

Copy | Download

Author Information

Lamessa Gudeta Guder

Western Shoa Zone Attorney Office, Ambo, Ethiopia

Download PDF

Sections

Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Lamessa Gudeta Guder. (2019). The Problems of Legal Gaps to the Protection of Women Against Domestic Violence in Ethiopia. International Journal of Law and Society, 2(2), 16-21. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20190202.11

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Lamessa Gudeta Guder. The Problems of Legal Gaps to the Protection of Women Against Domestic Violence in Ethiopia. Int. J. Law Soc. 2019, 2(2), 16-21. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20190202.11

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Lamessa Gudeta Guder. The Problems of Legal Gaps to the Protection of Women Against Domestic Violence in Ethiopia. Int J Law Soc. 2019;2(2):16-21. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20190202.11

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ijls.20190202.11,
  author = {Lamessa Gudeta Guder},
  title = {The Problems of Legal Gaps to the Protection of Women Against Domestic Violence in Ethiopia},
  journal = {International Journal of Law and Society},
  volume = {2},
  number = {2},
  pages = {16-21},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijls.20190202.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20190202.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijls.20190202.11},
  abstract = {Domestic violence is the most common form of violence experienced by women around the world which is directed by their intimate partner and other family members, and manifested through; physical, sexual, psychological and economic abuse. Domestic violence against women exists in countries with varying social, political, economic, and cultural structures, and its pervasiveness signifies that the problem does not originate with the pathology of an individual person. In Ethiopia, domestic violence is very prevalent throughout the country. However, building strong legal frame work is a cornerstone for the protection of women’s rights against any sexual based discrimination and violence. Accordingly, targeting at providing better protection to the rights of women, Ethiopia has attempted to undertaken significant ‘gender-sensitive’ legislative reforms after the down fall of military junta. Foremost among these laws; the 1995 FDRE constitution, the 2003 Revised Family Law and the 2005 Revised Criminal Code are indicative. However, regarding the scope of coverage of laws dealing with VAW, the Ethiopian legal framework cascades dump of the internationally accepted standards. Different forms of violence against women have not be criminalized in the way of understanding the complexity nature of the violence though international standards require States to ensure that forms of violence against women are included in criminal law as criminal acts.},
 year = {2019}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - The Problems of Legal Gaps to the Protection of Women Against Domestic Violence in Ethiopia
AU  - Lamessa Gudeta Guder
Y1  - 2019/07/23
PY  - 2019
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20190202.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijls.20190202.11
T2  - International Journal of Law and Society
JF  - International Journal of Law and Society
JO  - International Journal of Law and Society
SP  - 16
EP  - 21
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2640-1908
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20190202.11
AB  - Domestic violence is the most common form of violence experienced by women around the world which is directed by their intimate partner and other family members, and manifested through; physical, sexual, psychological and economic abuse. Domestic violence against women exists in countries with varying social, political, economic, and cultural structures, and its pervasiveness signifies that the problem does not originate with the pathology of an individual person. In Ethiopia, domestic violence is very prevalent throughout the country. However, building strong legal frame work is a cornerstone for the protection of women’s rights against any sexual based discrimination and violence. Accordingly, targeting at providing better protection to the rights of women, Ethiopia has attempted to undertaken significant ‘gender-sensitive’ legislative reforms after the down fall of military junta. Foremost among these laws; the 1995 FDRE constitution, the 2003 Revised Family Law and the 2005 Revised Criminal Code are indicative. However, regarding the scope of coverage of laws dealing with VAW, the Ethiopian legal framework cascades dump of the internationally accepted standards. Different forms of violence against women have not be criminalized in the way of understanding the complexity nature of the violence though international standards require States to ensure that forms of violence against women are included in criminal law as criminal acts.
VL  - 2
IS  - 2
ER  -

Copy | Download