Kassa, S. (2015) ‘Challenges and opportunities of women’s political participation in Ethiopia’, Journal of Global Economics, 3(4).
The aim of the article was to evaluate factors that hinder women’s political participation in Ethiopia and the importance of this. For this study, Kassa chose qualitative research as the best method of inquiry, and information was gathered from a variety of secondary sources, including books, reports from both government and non-government organisations, and journal articles.
In the analysis of the barriers to, and opportunities for women in Ethiopian politics, Kassa discovered that a number of causal factors, including those related to the economy, religion, society, and culture, were responsible for the low levels of political participation among women. The study also showed that political engagement enabled women to address their fundamental needs and issues in their local communities. Men and women in Ethiopian societies play distinct roles that are determined by patriarchy; the dominant ideology. Men are typically viewed as the household’s primary provider and as having the power to speak for the family outside the home. Men believe that only women should be responsible for household duties.
According to the paper, studies repeatedly show that women pay a motherhood penalty across all fields because of the significantly greater maternal involvement required for breastfeeding and because of the persistent tendency of women to do a larger share of childcare as the child grows. This consumes a great deal of their time and effort. Ethiopian women, like many other women, traditionally handle household duties while men manage extracurricular activities and frequently spend their free time socialising outside the home. This makes it challenging for women to participate in politics.
The paper came to the conclusion that negative attitudes perpetuating inequality are a hindrance to the position and empowerment of women and girls in society. This affects all aspects of their access to political decision-making as compared to their counterparts at all levels of government. Therefore, women’s equal participation in politics and decision-making is not only a requirement for basic justice and democracy, but also a necessary prerequisite for women’s interests to be taken into consideration.