Exploring the Tripartite Challenge of Political Participation for Ethiopian Muslim Women
Overview
Since the reform in 2018, Ethiopia has recorded impressive achievements regarding gender inclusivity in politics. However, the under-representation of Ethiopian women in politics continues to endure. Several challenges discourage women’s political participation in Ethiopia, and for Ethiopian Muslim women, the challenges are multi-faceted. This paper explores the challenges facing Ethiopian Muslim women in their political participation. In doing so, the article mainly employs qualitative data, drawing on historical and contemporary works of literature alongside semi-structured key informant interviews. The findings demonstrate a significant challenge for Ethiopian Muslim women in politics. As Ethiopian women, the social structure, customs, and social pressure present enormous challenges. As Muslims, the historical legacy of Ethiopian politics, the exclusionary political narratives, and some self-exclusionary narratives within the Muslim community themselves are additional challenges. Finally, there are challenges specific to Ethiopian Muslim Women, such as theological debates on women’s political participation and the public sphere’s reluctant, if not hostile, reception of an assertive Muslim woman, starting from the denial of schooling that inhibits them from making it to the political arena.
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DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/13552074.2025.2520078ISBN
1364-9221How to cite this resource
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