In your mind's eye, picture Eritrea; a diverse variety of landscapes expanding over 45,560 square miles. Now officially recognised as the State of Eritrea, the country is located in the North East of Africa, an area which you might know as The Horn of Africa.
Much of Eritrea's past, can be attributed to it's "ideal-for-trade" location, on the Red Sea. In fact, the East and Northwest of the country claim over 1000km of coastline. If history has taught us anything, it's that if a place is rich in resources and potential for trade, then it will likely never know peace. When there is an opportunity to harvest money from a country, many nations will attempt to stake their claim. Eritrea is no exception to this rule. Over the sea came many invaders, and modern day Eritrea was most impacted by the Italian colonisers of the 19th century.
A significant 30 years of Eritrean history, was occupied by the tumultuous War of Independence. The war broke out in 1961, between the Ethiopian government and Eritrean separatists.
Ethiopia is the most populated, land locked country on Earth, and it's not difficult to imagine the ways in which this could be a problematic situation. Without access to a coastline, economic growth is hindered for an entire nation. Haile Selassie I, knew that by possessing Eritrean land, he could gain access to the sea (and therefore ports).
In 1947, the Ethiopian Empire claimed Eritrea in an effort to expand and improve their economy.
The USA were in support of the annexing of Eritrea, by Ethiopia as it could be a chance to have a naval base in the red sea, and in 1952, the UN federated Ethiopia & Eritrea. They became constituent states of The Federation of Ethiopia and Eritrea. It was proposed that Eritrea would remain autonomous as a federal province; but the Chief Justice of Eritrea was removed and the official Eritrean languages were eliminated, in favour of Ethiopia’s national language. Ethiopia & most of the Christian territories of Eritrea were unified, whilst the divide lay predominantly with the Muslim territories of Eritrea. Amongst the Muslim community, people wished for independence from Ethiopia and for recognition as a separate state.
Haile Salassie, aware of a growing movement for a separation of the states, began to oppress the Muslim communities of the Federation of Ethiopia and Eritrea. With the assistance of his union, he removed Muslim leaders from their positions in government, banned the teaching of Arabic, as well as alternative political parties and trade unions. This type of political manipulation had an effect on the vote which followed in 1962, when a unanimous decision was made to annex Eritrea.
Of course, unanimity was also building on the opposing side. The rapid decline of Eritrea’s autonomy, contributed to a growing discontentment of Ethiopia’s rule. The Muslim leaders now living in exile, all wished to regain the independence of Eritrea, thus creating a movement which they could all unite on. An independence movement was rising, and in 1961 they formed the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF). By the mid-1960s they had a full guerrilla force operating in western Eritrea. Eventually and after much dispute between rival factions, a single powerful group arose. The Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF), dedicated to the most radical versions of Islam & Christianity, became a highly efficient Marxist enterprise.
It is believed that approximately 30% of the soldiers in the EPLF were women, or in many instances young girls. This may seem surprising to some, especially with any pre-conditioned ideologies about women in Islam.
I found myself wondering, why would young women leave their homes behind to join a violent and dangerous war? Were they risking their own lives, purely to gain autonomy of their state? It would be easy to assume they were forced into this position.
My research on the topic, led me to understand that there was much at stake for these young women, in terms of political change. These women were in fact fierce believers in themselves, voluntarily fighting for the rights of their people and especially of women. They left the traditional world which they were born into, to join Marxist-inspired guerrillas who embraced equality between the sexes.
The emancipation of women was apparently central, to the cultural revolution advocated by the EPLF and their Marxist-Leninist ideology. Within it’s own ranks, the Front attempted to put gender equality into practice in various capacities, during the 30-year war.
This would be an appealing incentive, to young women whom in many cases had nothing left to lose. Somewhere between the kidnapping and imprisonment of Muslims by Ethiopian Unionists, the pressure on young Muslim women to marry (many by the age of 13), a lack of access to education or employment; it becomes less surprising that women were willing to add further risk to their lives, in a bid for social change.
Throughout history, in the context of war women are usually regarded as defenceless victims. Of course, at war is an ugly place for anybody to find themselves; and the plight of women in war zones is often the worst. If we look at the reasons why, it can largely be put down to women being stripped of their freedom and power. When a woman is involved in war, she can be subjected to kidnapping, torture, rape and death. I think it is important to wholly consider, just what these women were willing to put on the line in order to feel emancipated.
The role of the female fighter during the War for Independence, challenged normative gendered stereotypes and roles. This opened up new opportunities, to reconstruct previously forced gender roles. The portrayal of defenceless women in war was thoroughly deconstructed, during the EPLF conflict. The Eritrean women forces were at the forefront of this conflict, fighting alongside and as equals to the male soldiers.
In the areas which were occupied by the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front, women were liberated from Ethiopian hegemony. The EPLF attempted to reform traditional Ethiopian marriage practices; such as forced marriage, arranged marriage, the payment of dowry, child marriage and the exclusion of non-virgin brides.
The EPLF conceptualised what they called “democratic marriage”, characterised by two adults acting out of choice. They also supplied fighters with contraceptives, which were not permitted or accessible in traditional Ethiopian society.
Essentially, women in the EPLF had the freedom to start and end relationships, which was not previously permitted for them. Divorce was easy, and commonly initiated by the woman. What was usually regarded as promiscuity in Ethiopian traditional society, was accepted in the EPLF’s liberated areas.
Gendered images of women include inferiority, lack of capability, submissive, emotional and less intelligent. All the while men are under a different type of pressure, from their gendered portrayal as superior, competent, dominant, rational and intelligent. When children of both genders grow up under these sexist social expectations, it is hugely detrimental to their development.
The deconstruction of gender roles and stereotypes, was paramount in creating healthy social conditions for the women of Eritrea. These female warriors had the passion and drive, to fight for the progression of women's rights.
In 2010 the BBC published an interview with a woman named Meriem Omar, who joined the EPLF in 1976. At the time, she was just a child of 13 years, but had known more suffering than most adults. During the interview, she spoke of the traumas she had faced during the war; which included the imprisonment and torture of her father. Omar, moved by her experiences, was radicalised in a sense and determined to impact change. The interview (which is linked in the photo of Meriem Omar, included in this article), was a great insight into the perspective of a female EPLF activist and warrior. "In the battlefield, you could be as aggressive and merciless as a man"
"“Women were very important to the revolution. That’s why they included rights of women in the military code.”
Omar spoke of her voluntary training for 9 months, in which time she became comfortable with carrying and firing a gun. As a soldier, she went on to fight for 16 years in the brutal guerrilla war, until she was exiled and moved to the UK. She described the euphoric feeling of winning the fight for freedom, when the war ended in 1993.
“The experience of conflict made me learn and grow up and believe in negotiation and peace.”
Omar's remarkable story, is one of courage and of struggle. Meriem was not alone in her fight, and surely her journey is a testament to the power of sisterhood. A perhaps extreme example, of how women can move mountains together, in order to impact gender equality for themselves and generations to follow.
The tradition of women in the Eritrean military continues to this day, now that the state has been independent for almost as long as it was at war.
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