Ethiopia

A beautiful essay that explores how to navigate the complexities of sexuality and personhood for Ethiopians, and how the traditional form known as qene or wax-and-gold is the perfect metaphor for negotiating and living dual realities.

In this last week there has been an uproar in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer people in Ethiopia, and also a backlash of online threats, harassment and violence.

This article weaves together the experience of LGBTQIA+ communities in Ethiopia – how they are impacted by OGBV, yet continue to exist and build community with creativity, resistance and strength.

Surveillance in Ethiopia has evolved beyond a mere function of the state—it has become a central strategy of governance.

In researching the multiple ways violence against LGBTQIA+ take place in Ethiopia, Martha and S.A. reflected how the broader social, cultural and political environment influence the process and how they work together collaboratively based on shared values and ethics despite the differences in terms of perspective, approaches and emotional response.

While the war in Ethiopia is ongoing and affecting people in multiple regions on all fronts, the violence is caused through not just the usual weapons of war, rather social media and online platforms are being weaponised to target individuals, especially women and gender and sexually diverse folks giving rise to online gender based violence. Ermias Mulugeta highlights the impact in this…

As Ethiopia starts to get internet connectivity on a faster pace owing to the entrance of foreign telecom companies in the country, the societal issues pertaining to gender based violence are increasingly translated into digital spaces as well. This article highlights three cases of women who went through various forms of technology-facilitated gender based violence.

What is belonging? What is its role in our lives - if any? Are we free to belong, freed by belonging or bound by it? In this piece, Etenat pulls the curtains allowing us a little peek into her exploration of these questions through her experience of a war ravaging all she knew -or thought she knew - of land, love and liberation. Her articulation of the sentences exacted upon her (and many…

Out of sight, out of mind - is one of the realest phenomena confronting warriors of truth and justice on the forefront of humanitarian disasters. Beyond the solidarity profile picture changes and statuses of “please pray” for whichever catastrophe that is ravaging the very heart and soul of humanity anywhere on this planet of ours, there are very real, live humans literally dying to live.…

Womxn in global south are making revolutionary uses of social media, and this includes people challenging casual and everyday ableism. In her column Samukelisiwe Mabaso looks at three amazing projects from different countries that are revolutionizing how disability is talked about - how they are changing language, discourse and perceptions