Bridging Women’s Rights and Human Rights: A Case Study of Five Ethiopian Lesbians
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Date
2010-05
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
In Ethiopian society same-sex sexuality is seen as a disease or as a deviant behavior
which exists irrespective of the natural. This research is intended to answer four basic
questions: How do Ethiopian women who engage in same-sex sexual activity perceive
themselves and their sexuality? Do they perceive any relation between gender equality
and same-sex sexuality despite state-sanctioned homophobia? What social,
psychological, and physical threats, if any, do Ethiopian lesbians face? How do they cope
with state-sanctioned homophobia?
In order to answer the above research questions an online semi-structured and selfadministered
questionnaire, relying mainly on open-ended questions, was utilized to
better understand the lives of Ethiopian lesbians and to ensure privacy, confidentiality
and anonymity. By employing purposive sampling, the present study recruited Ethiopian
lesbians who are members of the Queer Abesha Women’s Yahoo Group listserv.
Three major themes emerged from an analysis of the content of five Ethiopian lesbian
cases. The first theme reflected the negative impact of Ethiopian laws on the personal
lives of Ethiopian lesbians. The second theme revealed sexual agency among the women despite political, cultural and religious repression. The third theme reflected the
dynamic nature of Ethiopian women’s sexuality as well as their sexual fluidity.
Despite the challenges Ethiopian lesbians experience from fundamentalist religious
beliefs, repressive laws and societal norms, all five women perceive themselves as
healthy sexual human beings
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Gender Studies