Women’s Bodies as Battlefields

An Eritrean girl walks along the railway connecting Eritrea to Ethiopia. Many Eritrean children grow up without a parental presence because their parents have either emigrated or are serving in the military. As a result, these children feel compelled to leave and seek a new life abroad, often attempting to reunite with parents who have already left.

Yohanna (22) rests next to her mother after receiving treatment for complications arising from kidney removal in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Shot by Eritrean police at the border, she woke up at a hospital where she learned that one of her kidneys had been removed.

A stillborn baby whose refugee mother arrived at the clinic in critical condition in Kassala, Sudan. Fortunately, the mother survived. Many migrant and refugee women face economic, financial, and social difficulties that can interfere with prenatal care. This can result in adverse pregnancy outcomes, including stillbirths, which represent an unbearable trauma for mothers.

Tigrayan schoolchildren play with well water after school in Sheraro, Tigray, Ethiopia. Schools offer socialization, learning, and emotional stability. According to Unicef, children in school are less at risk of exploitation, sexual violence, early marriages, and child labor. Yet, due to conflict and COVID-19, Ethiopia faces a severe educational crisis, leaving many children without consistent access to education, despite peace agreements.

A woman and her daughter seek the blessing of a monk who lives in a cave church on top of the Korkor Mountain, in Tigray, Ethiopia. During the war, more than 200 religious and cultural sites were looted, and mountain monasteries and churches were specifically targeted by airstrikes intended to destroy Tigrayan cultural heritage.

Zayid (23, not her real name) shows a scar left by a bullet, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Zayid was raped at a refugee camp in Amhara. When fleeing to Addis Ababa with her family, she and her sister were shot and wounded by Amhara soldiers.

Ethiopian women navigate the Tekezé River, Humera border, Ethiopia. The 2018 peace deal between Eritrea and Ethiopia offered hope, opening the border for Ethiopians to cross into Eritrea. However, for many, this was an “external peace” brought about by geopolitical pressure, and border restrictions and human rights violations persist, forcing many to risk dangerous crossings with the aid of traffickers on the Tekezé River.

A Tigrayan woman holds a religious pendant belonging to her husband, who went missing during the conflict in Tigray. She says, “It is the only thing left of my past life.” When the bombing started, her husband joined the army. She has not heard from him since. Today she lives in poverty, supported by the aid provided within the Um Rakuba refugee camp, Gedaref, Sudan.
 

Despite experiencing trauma, the girls find strength and support in their shared experiences, fostering resilience, self-confidence, and collective strength at Um Rakuba Refugee camp, Gedaref, Sudan.

Eritrean women on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. One of them gave birth a few days ago and is carrying the baby under the blanket. Many Eritrean and Ethiopian women face hardship due to the war, which hinders access to food. In 2020, 8.6 million Ethiopians lacked regular food access, highlighting the impact of conflict on women and their families.

Refugee women often leave camps for urban centers, finding safety and support in communal living, which provides material, emotional, and psychological support. But city life also puts them at risk of exploitation. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 71% of Ethiopian women are victims of violence at some point in their lives. Axum, Tigray, Ethiopia.

A group of Tigrayan survivors of sexual assault find support and healing through a program focused on small agricultural entrepreneurship in Aigrat, Tigray, Ethiopia. Organized by the Hiwyet Charity Association, the initiative fosters community and empowerment, crucial for recovery from trauma. Despite the benefits, the Ethiopian government has shown resistance to such programs.
 

Objects on display at the Martyr’s Memorial Monument Museum belonging to women who were raped there. The museum originally memorialized the Tigarayan struggles against Ethiopian forces; when war broke out in 2020, Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) turned it into a detention center where Tigrayan women were raped and tortured. Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia. 

Hellen (22) was shot by military police during her fourth attempt to escape to Ethiopia. The incident was reported as accidental, but it is likely that the shot was intentional and intended as a punitive act. There are claims that girls attempting to flee Eritrea are often shot in the stomach by military police to prevent them from having children. The injury has caused her multiple health issues but she still hopes to reach Europe. Axum, Tigray, Ethiopia. 

Tsigue (39, not her real name) and her daughter (5) embrace each other in Adigrat, Tigray, Ethiopia. Tsigue was raped by Eritrean soldiers when the war began. Her husband left her shortly thereafter. Women raped during the war are almost always abandoned by their husbands.

A multi-purpose center for the promotion of women’s and children’s health, which offers services to refugee women, in Dar Al Salam, Sudan. According to the Country Refugee Response Plan, refugee women and children have limited access to healthcare. Refugees living outside of camps have particularly poor access, and when they can access health services, they are often overcharged.

Tigrayan women weave decorations for traditional clothes at the Adi Shum Duhun Health Center in Mekelle, Tigray, Ethiopia. The group also welcomes women who suffered sexual violence during the war, providing emotional and material support. Trauma has a high human cost, and populations affected by sexual violence have an increased risk of PTSD. The resilience nurtured among these women creates strong bonds of solidarity and new forms of collective and transgenerational support.

Possessions of Rita (39), who fled from Eritrea in 2016 with her daughter, son, and husband, photographed here in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Rita's daughter Elena died at age 7 from liver disease while they were fleeing. She was buried along the migration route, in a place with no connection to her family. Rita says she would like to live where her daughter is buried, that “having moved away from my daughter's body means having lost her a second time.”

Unmarried Sudanese women and other refugee women living in a shelter with their children in Khartoum, Sudan. In Sudan, having children out of wedlock is not only a serious crime but also a terrible stigma, even in cases of sexual assault. Many women who become pregnant as a result of rape are socially rejected in Sudan. This center seeks to arrange marriages between survivors and the fathers who do not recognize their own children.

Marhawit (21, center) leads a group of female soldiers in a cheer, in Neblet, Tigray, Ethiopia. Many are minors who joined the Tigrayan army for safety. Leaders like Marhawit provide emotional support and a sense of unity and purpose.

Women soldiers of the Tigrayan military occupy an observation post in Axum, Tigray, Ethiopia. Many Tigrayan women enlist in the military to defend themselves and others from conflict-related sexual violence and other atrocities committed by Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Amhara soldiers. These women play a key role in the Tigrayan army, inspiring men and women with their strength and courage.

A group of Tigrayan soldiers engages in a military exercise in in Tzada Medri, Tigray, Ethiopia, near the Eritrean border. After only twenty days of intensive training, women are sent to the front lines.

Members of the Tigrayan army with girls from a local farm in Neblet, Tigray, Ethiopia. Tigrayan soldiers rely on farming families for housing while the families choose to live near military camps for protection. Despite recent peace agreements, the risk of renewed conflict remains high, and young recruits must live and train close to the camps to be prepared for action.

An Eritrean woman on the outskirts of Asmara, Eritrea. Beneath this peaceful surface lies a pervasive espionage network responsible for detaining, torturing, persecuting, raping, and disappearing citizens in the name of political control. The United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights denounced the Eritrean government's systematic repression.

Despite facing immense challenges, young Tigrayan refugee women dedicate time to self-care and socialization. Social interaction provides a crucial support system, helping them process trauma, maintain normalcy, and redefine their identities. Shire, Tigray, Ethiopia. 

Zhaynesh (38) and Salem (40), not their real names, present data they have collected on sexual violence during the Tigray war, in Sheraro, Tigray, Ethiopia. The governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea have never acknowledged any war crimes or acts of sexual violence committed by their armed forces.

Zara (38, not her real name) and her daughter (11), from Tigray, photographed in Adwa, Tigray, Ethiopia. During the war in Tigray, four Eritrean soldiers and one Ethiopian federal government soldier entered their home, raped Zara, and threw a pot of boiling water at her daughter. Zara also suffered from a detached retina from a blow to the head. Without adequate medical assistance, she lost sight in that eye. Access to post-rape medical assistance in Tigray is severely inadequate. It took weeks or even months for several survivors to access services that were often unequipped to meet their needs.

Merhawit (31), from Eritrea, ran away from Tigray to Addis Ababa when the war broke out. She fled towards the Amhara region with her three children, her husband, and her brother. On the way, soldiers captured her husband and brother; she still doesn’t know what happened to them. The Amhara security forces and the Eritrean army in alliance with the Ethiopian federal army are responsible for a wave of mass detentions, killings, and forced expulsions in Tigray. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Tigrayan women working the land in Adwa, Tigray, Ethiopia. The war in Tigray has increased the number of women who must live on their own. In response, many women have found new autonomy through farming and handicrafts. Despite progress, with Ethiopia now ranking 75th in the 2023 Global Gender Gap Index, Ethiopian women still face substantial barriers to economic equality.

An Eritrean baby in the living room his parents share with other refugee families in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Conditions are harsh for refugee children, as they spend many hours alone while their parents are out trying to make a living in a foreign country. "I want my son to be free one day. Free to choose his own future, like your children," says Mesele's father.

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