Marital Rape in Ethiopia

Marital rape is illegal in many countries. Countries like Thailand, Nepal, and the Philippines  have introduced legislation to criminalize marital rape, often following advocacy campaigns and  judicial interventions, while other countries, including Ethiopia, still lack specific laws  addressing this violation within marriage, often rooted in historical norms that prioritize spousal  authority over individual autonomy. Marital rape is the act of sexual intercourse without the  consent of a spouse, accomplished through the use of force, intimidation, or betrayal. That is,  when one of the spouses is forced to have sexual relations against their will, it amounts to marital  rape. It contains all the elements of rape, but the location is between spouses within marriage. The issue becomes particularly complex because marriage has been viewed as a relationship that  automatically grants sexual access. This assumption, that marriage constitutes ongoing consent, has made it difficult for states, including Ethiopia, to recognize that rape can occur in marriage. 

Historically, different legal and social theories are advanced to justify the exemption of marital  rape from criminal liability. One of the most common and popular was the theory of implied  consent also called- Hale Doctrine, which postulated legal impossibility of marital rape, as  wedding vows imply wife’s ongoing consent to sex1 Closely linked to this was the theory of the  unity of person, which viewed husband and wife as a single legal entity; therefore, a husband  could not rape his wife, just as a person cannot rape themselves. The third one is the theory of  property, which considers a wife as a property of a husband and justifies that the legal status of  women is suspended during marriage.2 These patriarchal theories have influenced legal systems  globally, including Ethiopia’s, in resisting the criminalization of marital rape. 

Ethiopia has ratified several international and regional agreements, and passed legal and policy  provisions that promote the rights of women and girls under the Federal Constitution and various  laws, including the 2000 Revised “Family Code and the 2005 Revised Criminal Code.3 However,  the presence of an exemption for marital rape in Ethiopia’s various national legal frameworks is one of the key elements displaying ambiguities in the domestication of some global VAW  norms, elements that have raised concerns among different international entities, which have  questioned Ethiopia’s commitment to the protection of women and girls from various forms of  violence.4 This article therefore, assesses the status of marital rape under Ethiopian law in light  of major international and regional human rights instruments. 

The Legal Framework on Marital Rape in Ethiopia  

In the 2004 criminal code of Ethiopia, Article 620 defines rape as an act where whoever compels  a woman to submit to sexual intercourse outside wedlock, whether by the use of violence or  grave intimidation, or after having rendered her unconscious or incapable of resistance, is  punishable with rigorous imprisonment from five years to fifteen years.5This section  categorically criminalized rape outside a wedlock, which is indicative of the reality that  compelled sex within wedlock will not be rape in accordance with Ethiopian law. When the act  is between Spouses, it is not a crime of rape, even in instances of non-consent or the application  of force. This wording shows that the law still operates on the age-old presumption that sex  within marriage always involves consent, which is contrary to modern human rights norms, which focus on consent at every instance. Despite the suggestion made by the Ethiopian Women  Lawyers’ Association (EWLA) to include marital rape under the definition of rape, the legislature  chose to reject this suggestion in the amendment process of the 1957 Criminal Code.6 The reason  for the failure to recognize marital rape as a punishable crime is attributable to the belief that a  sexual relationship within wedlock is too personal to be incorporated into criminal law.7 

The FDRE Constitution, International Commitments, and Marital Rape Excluded from  Criminal Liability. 

The Ethiopian Federal Constitution provides tremendous protections to women. Article 35  provides guarantees of equality between men’s and women’s rights8, and Article 16 imposes an obligation upon the state to protect women from bodily harm.9Specifically, Article 35(4) requires  the state to protect women from harmful customs and traditions that can affect their physical and  mental well-being.10 In addition, the Constitution guarantees human dignity and honor rights, as  well as protection from inhuman treatment, which is appropriate directly in the safeguard of  women against marital rape. The Constitution also incorporates ratified international human  rights treaties as an integral part of the law11. It mandates that fundamental rights be interpreted  in line with universal human rights statements12, including documents like CEDAW and the  Maputo Protocol, which urge states to criminalize all sexual violence, including marital rape.13 Ethiopia is one of the countries on the African continent that delayed ratifying the Maputo  Protocol, only doing so in July 2018, fifteen years after it had been introduced. Upon ratification,  Ethiopia incorporated the protocol into its national law through a ‘ratification proclamation no..  1082/2018. However, in the course of the ratification process, the country expressed its  reservations regarding several provisions and entered declarations on a number of articles in the  Protocol. Regarding marital rape, Ethiopia entered a declaration specifically in relation to Article  4(2) (a) of the Protocol, prohibiting violence against women in private as well as in public  (Ratification Proclamation 1082/2018, Article 3(2)). Ethiopia has also declared that Article  4(2)(a) of the Maputo Protocol shall be applicable in line with Article 620 of the Criminal Code  of Ethiopia, which defines rape as an act occurring out of wedlock.14 

Against this backdrop of constitutional and international commitments, Ethiopia still fails to  explicitly criminalize marital rape. This inconsistency attests to a significant gap between the  promises of protection in the Constitution and the country’s failure to harmonize its domestic  criminal law with international human rights commitments on sexual violence in marriage.. According to a survey conducted by the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA), 31 out  of 208 surveyed women have been raped by their husband. 10.8% of these women were insulted  for refusing to have sex with their husbands. The reaming 5.4% were raped whenever they  refused sex, and 1.4% of these women were physically abused by their husbands for refusing to have sexual intercourse.15Furthermore, the findings of CARE Ethiopia following research it  conducted in our districts located in different regions of Ethiopia, including a district within the  Addis Ababa City Administration, revealed that 76.6 percent of women’s consulted during the  course of the study mentioned having experienced sexual violence from their partners or  husbands.16 The common prevalence of marital rape in Ethiopia is due to deep-rooted patriarchal  traditions and cultural beliefs that assign sexual power to the husband over the wife. The societal  structure proves the Hale Doctrine principle of implied consent that marriage signifies continual  permission for sexual intercourse. Men rule supreme in decision-making in the majority of  Ethiopian homes, and so women have difficulty in refusing unwanted sex. Furthermore,  economic reliance of women on their husbands limits their capacity to report or challenge abuse,  as they are likely to be afraid of social stigma, economic loss, or family breakdown. These  cultural and economic factors collectively contribute to the silence and underreporting of marital  rape in the nation. 

Conclusion 

The issue of marital rape in Ethiopia represents a wider tension between legal reform and social  transformation. Although the Ethiopian Constitution guarantees gender equality and Ethiopia is a  signatory to key international human rights instruments such as CEDAW and the Maputo  Protocol, such obligations remain symbolic in the absence of complementary legislative  transformation. This loophole reveals just how entrenched patriarchal values continue to be in  law and practice, limiting women’s access to justice. Combatting marital rape, therefore, is not  just a legislative act but a moral and social imperative that demands bringing national laws into  line with international standards, transforming cultural beliefs, and rendering equality a lived  reality for all Ethiopian women. 

Recommendation 

I recommend the Government of Ethiopia to take tangible steps to amend Article 620 of the  Criminal Code to explicitly acknowledge and criminalize marital rape, which will align national  law with international human rights treaties such as CEDAW, the Maputo Protocol, and the  Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The amendment must state that marriage will not  invalidate the right of a woman to bodily autonomy and consent. Also, according to Article 9(4)  of the FDRE Constitution, all human rights treaties that the nation has ratified should be adopted  in full into domestic law and given direct effect in judicial interpretation and application, so that  Ethiopia’s international obligations are in fact carried out in practice. Aside from legislative  change, the government needs to undertake massive public education and awareness-raising  campaigns that confront patriarchal cultural assumptions and myths which gives the opportunity  to the husband’s sexual entitlement over his wife. Gender-sensitive education, both in schools  and in community forums, can be encouraged as a way of shifting attitudes over time. Economic  empowerment of women with greater access to education, jobs, and ownership of property is  also crucial in order to lessen dependence and increase the capacity of women to claim their 

rights. Finally, strengthening enforcement mechanisms for the law and bolstering support  services for survivors from safe houses and counseling services to victim-friendly judicial  processes will ensure access to meaningful justice for women. Only through synchronized legal,  social, and institutional transformation can Ethiopia move toward a society that truly honors  equality, dignity, and justice for all in marriage. 

Reference(S): 

Laws and Legal Instruments 

• The Criminal Code of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Proclamation No.  414/2004, Article 620. 
• CEDAW (adopted 1979, entered into force 1981) 1249 UNTS 13. 
• Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women  in Africa (Maputo Protocol) (adopted 2003, entered into force 2005). 

Books, Articles, and Reports 

✓ Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association, ‘Berchi’ (2008) cited in Kobkab Sirgaw,  ‘Marital Rape as a Human Right Violation of Women in Ethiopia: A Case Study of  Alumni Association of the Faculty of Law of Addis Ababa University and Ethiopian  Women Lawyers’ Association (EWLA)’ (2022) 38 Eastern Africa Social Science  Research Review 94, 95 

✓ Fekadu S, An Assessment of Causes of Rape and Its Socio-Health Effects: The Case  Female Victims in Kirkos Sub-City, Addis Ababa (MA thesis, Addis Ababa University,  2008) 18, cited in Hiwot D Meshesha, Analysis of Marital Rape in Ethiopia in the  Context of International Human Rights (LLM thesis, University of South Africa, 2014)  15. 

✓ Indumathi S, ‘Marriage – A Licence to Rape’ (2022) 10(2) International Journal of  Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT) https://www.ijcrt.org accessed 27 October 2025. ✓ Meron Zeleke, ‘Resistance to VAW Global Norms: The Controversy Surrounding Marital Rape in Ethiopia’ (DIIS Working Paper 2021:03, Danish Institute for  International Studies 2021) https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/238140/1/1752045106.pdf accessed 27 October  2025.

1Indumathi S, ‘Marriage – A Licence to Rape’ (2022) 10(2) International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts  (IJCRT) https://www.ijcrt.org accessed 27 October 2025 

2 Meron Zeleke, ‘Resistance to VAW Global Norms: The Controversy Surrounding Marital Rape in Ethiopia’ (DIIS  Working Paper 2021: 03, Danish Institute for International Studies 2021)  https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/238140/1/1752045106.pdf accessed 27october 2025.

3Ibid 

4Ibid 

5 The Criminal Code of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Proclamation No. 414/2004, Article 620.

6 Fekadu S, An Assessment of Causes of Rape and its Socio-Health Effects: The Case of Female Victims in Kirkos  Sub-City, Addis Ababa (MA thesis, Addis Ababa University, 2008) 18, cited in Hiwot D Meshesha, Analysis of Marital  Rape in Ethiopia in the Context of International Human Rights (LLM thesis, University of South Africa, 2014) 15

7Ibid 

8 Federal Constitution of Ethiopia (Proclamation No. 1/1995), Arts 16, 35.

9Ibid 

10 Ibid 

11 Ibid, Article 9(4) 

12 Ibid, Article 13(2) 

13 CEDAW (adopted 1979, entered into force 1981) 1249 UNTS 13.and Protocol to the African Charter on Human  and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol) (adopted 2003, entered into force 2005). 

14 Supra note 3,8

15Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association, ‘Berchi’ (2008) cited on Kobkab Sirgaw, ‘Marital rape as a human right  violation of women in Ethiopia: a case study of alumni association of the faculty of law of Addis Ababa University  and Ethiopian women lawyers’ association (EWLA)’ (2022) 38 Eastern Africa Social Science Research Review  94, 95.  

16 Supra note 3, 4