Bride abduction and kidnapping in Ethiopia

Abduction marriage or in its Amharic name  ጠላፋ is a commonly practiced action where a man whether in groups or alone abducts a woman or a young lady to marry her. The  key element in this is that the bride herself and the bride’s family’s lack of consent to this action. Bride abduction isn’t a form of “Marriage conclusion” as it entails engagement sex or being forced into sexual intercourse with the intent to marry which is a disguise for what it actually is: Rape.[1] Usually the young girl would be forced to stay with the man that raped her in a marriage after the abduction. Most of these young women have found themselves in abusive marriages [2] Using survey data collected in 15 Ethiopian vil lages, Dito (2015) finds that women who are married by abduction typically have larger age gaps with their partners than non-abducted married women. Large age gaps are associated with worse health outcomes for the women or young girl.[3]

Bride abduction and kidnapping is extremely prevalent in Ethiopia. Based on data collected from the 2005 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) 10.5 percent of ever-married women in Ethiopia are married by abduction. The rate of abduction marriage remained relatively stable for years of marriage between 1970 and 2005.[4] The prevalence of bride abduction among Oromo women aged 15-49 was approximately 11 percent in the 2005 DHS data.[5] Additionally in the Ethiopian region of Gambella (close to the border with South Sudan) where, according to the 2005 DHS, 11 percent of ever-married women were married by abduction. [6] However this conclusion from this data is an estimation reached by equating bride price with bride abduction, because of its direct link. This shows us that this isn’t a fulfilling result to conclude as fact. The nature of this practice and the community acceptance towards it shows that there isn’t a completely reliable data that can conclude its exact prevalence amount.

Bride abduction is a form of a short cut from paying bride price, showing its high prevalence in regions that have bride price culture.[7]It is traditionally considered once the abducted girl has been impregnated the girl, he can put his claim on her. Village elders act as mediators between families and negotiate the bride’s price compensating her “ruin”. We can see the sense of this culture in Aberash Bekele’s case, age 14,  was abducted by seven horsemen in southern Ethiopia, taken to a remote hut and repeatedly beaten and raped by the gang’s leader. In an attempt to flee, knowing that her rapist wanted to become her husband, Aberash shot her captor after his continuing advance towards her even after she shot warning fires. She was arrested for murder, brought to trial. Aberash’s statement were “ He hit me. I nearly lost consciousness, He was such a huge man I could not push him away. Then he forced my legs apart. He beat me senseless and took my virginity’, while the abductor’s parent’s  statement were “Many people marry through abduction. He abducted her for marriage, not to be killed by her,”. This shows the insensitivity that has been created by the sense of norm of this practice upon traditional communities. The insensitivity towards it is so severe and it is such a common practice that that police turn a blind eye , and it is left to be solved by community elders.[8] 

A breaking point in bride abduction is Woineshet Zebene’s Case. Woineshet zenebe’s case is breaking point as she is the first person to legally challenge bridal abduction. Woineshet was a 13 year old girl when she was abducted and then raped for two days straight afterwords. Her abductor was momentarily arrested and then got out on bail. He then abducted her for over a month until she managed to escape, but only after he had forced her to sign a marriage certificate. He did this so that he wouldn’t be charged with rape. At this time, Ethiopian law stated that a man could not be charged with rape if he married the victim. This is seen by the current lack of legal recognition of marital rape in Ethiopia and subsequent provisions in the repealed penal code. Her abductor and accomplices were respectively sentenced to 8 and 10 years of imprisonment, until this was overturned by an appeal and they were let go. Woineshet’s case is a breaking point as it was the first in its kind were a person challenged a socially accepted practice for its wrongness. Woineshet refused to marry her abductor fighting all the social pressure on young ladies that push them to marry their abductor in order to not be shunned.[9]

The legal reform in 2005 removing marital exemption from the penal code which made bride abduction and rape illegal is pivotal point. Before 2005, as we can see from our previous case if the abductor marries the victim , he wouldn’t be charged for the abduction and rape as they are to be considered husband and wife. Articles 558 and 599 of the 1957 Ethiopian Penal Code had provided that in the event of subsequent marriage to his victim, the perpetrator was exempt from criminal responsibility for these crimes. This was a loophole that allowed and legalized bride abduction. The coming into effect of the new penal code on may 9, 2005 stopped the legality of bride abduction. A campaign was launched  March 2002, calling on the Ethiopian Government to comply with the sex equality provisions of its own Constitution and international law by abolishing this legal exemption. This campaign highlighted the case of Woineshet Zebene.[10]

Bride abduction isn’t a forgotten history but the reality of many woman in Ethiopia. Every woman remembers her wedding day with a tear in her eye but here in Ethiopia, the tears are different and darker. Bride abduction is a reality in rural area Ethiopia. Conflicting data and lack of registry because of the acceptance of the communities show us that bride abduction is more prevalent than recorded. The lack of attention it receives makes it seem like its a forgotten history when it is still prevalent. There should be more work done in this area and better enforcement of the law because idly setting out the law but not creating better enforcement for it makes the law sham. Even though it’s change to illegal is to be applauded , it is just a first step towards the elimination of bride abduction and not the whole work.

Reference(S):

[1]  Stallworthy, B. (2024, May 8). No consent: No choice but to marry their kidnappers. Population Matters. https://populationmatters.org/news/2023/09/no-consent-no-choice-but-to-marry-their-kidnappers/

[2] Sa, M. (2025b, February 11). Unholy Matrimony: Bride Kidnapping In Ethiopia – restlessbeings. restlessbeings. https://www.restlessbeings.org/articles/unholy-matrimony-bride-kidnapping-in-ethiopia/

[3] The Economics of Abduction Marriage: Evidence from Ethiopia. (2024). In IZA Discussion Papers (No. 17242). https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/. Page 8

[4] Ibid. Page 12

[5] Ibid. Page 11

[6] Ibid. Page 10

[7]Ibid. Page 14

[8] The Guardian. (n.d.). World news | World | The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/jun/13/

[9] Khan, A. L. (n.d.). The story of Woineshet Zebene. https://www.adamlikhan.com/2020/07/the-story-of-woineshet-zebene.html

[10]Ethiopia: Abduction and rape | Pambazuka News. (n.d.). https://www.pambazuka.org/gender-minorities/ethiopia-abduction-and-rape