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Salient. Newspaper of the Victoria University Students' Association. Vol 42 No. 23. September 17 1979

Eritrea: Women at War

page 11

Eritrea: Women at War

[unclear: omen] are dying in guerilla trenches in [unclear: ea], yet another country earmarked by [unclear: Soviet] Union in its strategy for world [unclear: ination].

[unclear: unning] down Soviet MiG-23 planes and [unclear: onov] bombers, repulsing hundreds of [unclear: sands] of Ethiopian troops heavily [unclear: pped] with Soviet T-54 and T-55 tanks become a daily reality for women and fighters in the Eritrean Liberation [unclear: y] (EPLA), led by the Eritrean [unclear: Libera-] Front (EPLF). But against these tre[unclear: dous] odds, the EPLF is putting up a resistance.

[unclear: According] to foreign correspondents, the [unclear: th] phase of the Soviet-Ethiopian [unclear: offen-] in Eritrea, launched on April 2, is on [unclear: verge] of total failure. Using guerilla [unclear: tac-] perfected in the 17 years of armed [unclear: ggle], the EPLF is in a position to win a [unclear: piete] victory and thwart the Soviet [unclear: on's] aim of securing a foothold on the Sea, as part of its plan to gain control [unclear: he] sea routes from the Middle East oil [unclear: s].

[unclear: hen], given the far-sighted leadership of [unclear: EPLF], social developments such as land [unclear: rm], agricultural expansion, the building [unclear: n] industrial base serving the people, and [unclear: chools] and hospitals to serve the people, get fully underway. And only then will full emancipation of the Eritrean [unclear: en] be possible.

[unclear: Ects] of Colonial Domination

[unclear: ritrean] society is semi-feudal and [unclear: nial]. The Eritrean masses have been [unclear: oited] for centuries under the feudal [unclear: le] of production and by foreign capital, [unclear: ddition], women in Eritrea have been [unclear: mised] by the existing patriarchal order.

[unclear: rural] Eritrea, excluded from the [unclear: ership] of production they live a life of [unclear: breaking] toil on farm plots and in the [unclear: e]. In the cities they have been ruthlessly [unclear: oited] as part of the working class, paid [unclear: than] half of men's wages and forced to [unclear: k] long hours under terrible conditions [unclear: i] no rights. Poor working conditions [unclear: e] not improved for women, nor for all [unclear: kers] under successive colonial regimes British, Italian and Ethiopian, firstly [unclear: ked] by the US and now by the Soviets.

[unclear: lany] women are forced into prostitu[unclear: or] the drudgery of private domestic [unclear: ery] toiling up to 15-18 hours a day for [unclear: ttle] as $3.00 a month wages.

[unclear: Political] and Social Oppression

[unclear: As] a result of their subordinate economic [unclear: ition], Eritrean women don't have any [unclear: in] the political, social and cultural life [unclear: heir] society. Under the patriarchal [unclear: sys-] they are not allowed to take part in [unclear: ision]-making on village and family [unclear: mat-]. Marriages are 'arranged' and once a [unclear: man] is 'purchased' with a dowry (which [unclear: en] varies according to her 'beauty') she [unclear: xpected] to serve her husband and his [unclear: lily] for the rest of her life.

[unclear: Polygamy] is widespread, and while a man literally throw his wife out into the cold [unclear: any] moment, a woman who leaves her [unclear: band] with or without a divorce becomes [unclear: social] outcast. Ideological fetters on [unclear: men] are reflected in such popular sayings "Where is the gain if one marries a [unclear: man], to give birth to a woman", "Just [unclear: here] is no donkey with horns; so there is [unclear: woman] with brains."

[unclear: Hiopian] Occupation

[unclear: For] centuries Eritrean women have been [unclear: ckled] under the yoke of double [unclear: oppress-] Today, in many cases the situation is [unclear: ting] worse. Ethiopian aggressor troops [unclear: e] inflicted terrible atrocities against [unclear: trean] women. Thousands of peasant [unclear: men] have been massacred in cold blood, [unclear: gnant] women have had their wombs slit [unclear: en] and in the cities young women and [unclear: s], some 14-15 years old have become vic[unclear: s] of mass rape by the occupying forces.

[unclear: Such] atrocities have forced thousands of [unclear: treans] to flee to neighbouring countries [unclear: ere] they live in miserable conditions in [unclear: ugee] camps.

[unclear: Ilitant] History of Struggle

[unclear: However], with the growth of the Eritrean [unclear: olution] the position of women is [unclear: dually] changing.

Today, under the leadership of the [unclear: LF], a Marxist-Leninist organisation, [unclear: itrean] women are taking an increasingly [unclear: ive] role in the revolution. Even in the [unclear: 40's] and 50's women were quite militant [unclear: the] peasant uprisings and mass strikes [unclear: d] demonstrations, protesting against [unclear: ere] economic' exploitation and for democratic rights.

When the liberation movement led by the Eritrean Liberation front (ELF) launched into armed struggle in 1961, women displayed their patriotic real by providing food, shelter, funds and information about enemy movements to the liberation fighters.

Enter the EPLF

However it wasn't until the EPLF was formed as a split-away vanguard front from the ELF that the woman question obtained its fullest expression. The reactionary leadership of the ELF did not grasp the importance of mobilising women to fully participate in the struggle. Backward, feudal attitudes manifested themselves in the ELF's declaration that "women's liberation is postponed, along with the fight for all fundamental changes until after [unclear: indepenuence]". Women were [unclear: loroiuacn] from running away from chauvinist husbands. Many women fighters were forced to quit and became disillusioned refugees.

Photo of a Front cadre in a political education class

A Front cadre in a political education class.

Photo of Women members of the EPLF people's militia, holding guns

Women members of the EPLF people's militia.

Photo of a woman electrician

Woman electrician in one of the underground workshops in liberated Eritrea.

The EPLF on the other hand firmly believes that without the active participation of women, national liberation will not be achieved; that women are capable of playing a significant role in transforming the society. 'Fighter' designates all cadres in the EPLF, not simply front-line combatants. Everyone receives military training and are then sent to work in different sectors of the Front. Women are active as combatants, political organisers, educators and workers, officially constituting 13% of front line fighters and 30% of the EPLF as a whole. As the war intensifies and women become more politicised the proportion of women recruits is increasing.

Although women's participation at top ranking levels is limited due to their low educational level and lack of experience, it is the major participation of women as middle-level cadres which assures them a vital role in liberation, mediating between the Front and the people, as well as rebuilding the liberated areas.

Child marriage is outlawed; through education and health they're attacking such cruel practices as infibulation; and they have given divorcees 50% of conjugal property.

"In the Past I Never Dared Open My Mouth"

The revolution demands from women a committment other than that of childrearing and by offering, as an alternative to domestic confinement, tough and productive activity. Women's organisations have been set up to assist the Front and encourage discussions of, among other things aspects of women's oppression.

Thus traditional barriers are breaking down. One woman told Trish Johnson, a British correspondent in a Sudanese refugee camp of how her husband's consciousness was raised through this political education; "In the past I never dared open my mouth about anything in front of my husband, he would have thrown me out of the house. Now we argue all the time about politics."

Proud though they are of their achievements, Eritrean women recognise that they still have a long way to go. Attitudes of male supremacy are deeply embedded in the society.

But enemy bullets do not discriminate between men and women, and in the confrontation with Soviet-Ethiopian aggression Eritrean women's subordination is being undermined. The EPLF, while fighting for freedom for the Eritrean masses, is also waging a persistent assault on the causes of women's oppression, believing that the emancipation of Eritrean women can only be achieved when feudalism and capitalism are destroyed and a people's democratic government established.

Virginia Adams