An Analysis of Women’s Rights Enshrined in the Gadaa System: The Case of Gujii Oromo, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

The various historians and scholars of the classical and contemporary cultures attest that the Oromo Gada system is one of the indigenous democratic governances. Thus, women’s rights enshrined in the Gadaa System, the practice of women’s rights in the Gadaa System, and the protection of women’s rights in the Gadaa System are among the important aspects of the Oromo Gada System. However, this aspect of the Gujii Oromo Gada system has been overlooked and received less research attention. Therefore, this article, aims at analyzing the situation of women’s rights enshrined in the indigenous Gada system of the Guji Oromo of Southern Ethiopia. To that end, I used a qualitative approach whereby interviews were conducted with key informants with community elders, Gada leaders, Gada counselors, well-experienced women, and government officials from the culture and tourism office in the area of this study. The primary data were supported by data from secondary sources and an intensive review of the literature. The informants witnessed that within the Guji Oromo Gada system lies” woliigala seera uwwaa” which literally means “agreed upon the laws of the Gujii women and girls’’ intended for protecting the Gujii women and girls from any form of abuse and violence. These customary laws have been translated into practices and people abided by them in the daily course of life of the Gujii community. Contemporary activities and practitioners of women’s rights enshrined and gender empowerment undermined to recognize such valuable traditional rights of Gujii Oromo women. The paper recommends that the women’s right enshrined in the Guji Oromo Gada system is viable and needs to be recognized and encouraged. Therefore to concluded that, the modern efforts of promoting and protecting the women’s rights enshrined are, should have reconsider to creating space for harmonizing useful indigenous women’s rights enshrined in the Gada system of Guji Oromo, Southern Ethiopia.