Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide

In the first part of Chapter 4, “Rule by Rape,” the authors open with a shocking statistic: “Women aged fifteen through forty-four are more likely to be maimed or die from male violence than from cancer, malaria, traffic accidents, and war combined” (61). Domestic violence often coincides with sexual assault, as was the case for Woinshet Zebene, a young Ethiopian girl from a rural village. She was kidnapped and raped by a man named Aberew, who hoped to marry her despite her not knowing who he was. After discussions with her father, Woinshet decided to report the rape as a crime; something which defied rural Ethiopian cultural norms. The elders in her village pressured Woinshet and her father to settle with Aberew, but they refused.

Aberew kidnapped Woinshet again and resumed beating and raping her and demanding that she marry him. Woinshet escaped again but was caught. Aberew took her to court, where he tried to pressure her into marriage. She still refused. Woinshet moved to the police station, hoping to stay alive, because her community was furious with her for breaking tradition and wouldn’t help when Aberew kidnapped her again. Woinshet brought her case before the courts, but the judges sided with Aberew.