Hilina Berhanu Degefa

Hilina Berhanu Degefa (born 1992) is an Ethiopian feminist activist and researcher. She is a co-founder of The Yellow Movement, a youth-led feminist advocacy and empowerment program based in Addis Ababa and Mekelle University. She was a 2015 recipient of a Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, the youngest to receive the honor at the age of 22. Hilina is also a Women Deliver Young Leaders Fellow, class of 2020. She is the first Ethiopian civil society representative to brief the UN Security Council. Quotes I was introduced to the project by a friend. What really intrigued me and solidified my decision to apply were the virtual format, the cost-free nature of the training, and the flexible scheduling options. Having had distance from a feminist community and organised thinking for some time, in applying for the programme, I was seeking both community and scientific frameworks to reinvigorate my feminist fire. The programme offered structured thinking around feminism while leaving room for open discussions and interventions from participants. As feminist educators, Tebussum and Inderjit employed various tenets of feminist and development pedagogy: treating trainees (us) as co-educators; building equality, solidarity, and support; anchored in examining how power is challenged, transformed, and created. Moreover, their willingness to adapt the course to our changing needs was quite admirable. Enriched by extensive group discussions rooted predominately in black and brown feminist thought, this training is one of the best practically grounded and continually reflective feminist interactions I have participated in. As a young activist, I also grappled with imposter syndrome, the headache of resourcing (including grant writing), witnessing patriarchal hostility, and different forms of conflict and negotiation at work. The training helped me trace the feminist leader in myself that advocated for rest and leisure while virulently taking on the task of challenging and changing power structures. It helped me understand the different faces of power for the feminist leader and re-think resourcing and conflict-handling methods. The course had another effect, perhaps unintended (then again, perhaps not): It forced me to embrace my vulnerabilities. The break-out rooms particularly enabled rigorous, honest sharing of our joint and separate struggles as social justice activists amongst our diverse cohort, comforting each other with varying degrees of emotions, including tears. While initially, six sessions/18 hours seemed much, throughout the learning, it became evident that extending the hours could have enabled us to delve even deeper into the wealth of knowledge and resources that WRC and its dedicated staff have to offer. This realisation left me wishing we had extended hours to explore even more valuable feminist insights and resources they could offer. In an interview What attracts and incentivises women’s participation in ethnonational non-state armed groups? Several armed groups active in Ethiopia count numerous women among their fighters. Women are active participants in these armed groups, and their roles are not limited to support functions. I am a native of Addis Ababa, and I grew up in a multicultural, idea-driven household that mostly embraced fluidity in self-expression. I have always been an advocate for social equity and justice, not just in school or formal spaces but even at home, in sharing the tiniest of household chores among siblings. I am the first born, and that naturally requires braving the first set of social expectations thrown at you either from your parents or the community at large. Speaking out and defiance were very much part of my upbringing. Activism in a way was an extension of my normal lived experience. I started activism in public spaces in my third year of law school in response to a gender-based violence case. I got frustrated with the short-lived social outrage which typically and ultimately ends up in blaming the survivor. It was both reactionary and action-oriented because although I wanted to challenge the collective wilful blind eye and deliberate ignorance, which also biased the justice system at the time, I was determined to carry the activism consistently beyond defending that particular case. Talking about herself Following the talk of legal reform in the new administration, a working group has been formed and we are working with members of the group and the media in highlighting the need for a gendered approach in legislative drafting. We have made direct suggestions, hosted external meetings in support of those in the working group, written articles in magazines and co-hosted talk shows in breaking down patriarchal barriers in law. As the great South African activist and judge Albie Sachs once said, ‘While one should always be sceptical about the law’s pretensions, one should never be cynical about the law’s possibilities.’ I am aware that law in its current form serves as both a symbol and a vehicle of male authority, but I am also hopeful with the right feminist lens, that can be changed. It is true that there has been a lot of optimism following the appointment of women in different positions of power, and the government deserves recognition, rightfully. However, the patriarchal structure that has characterized Ethiopian politics in the past appears to still be in control, and we are back to business as usual. Women are largely considered as silent actors to be appointed by the mercy of the ruling party or the Prime Minister. This is so because such rights are yet to be fully guaranteed via law and policy changes. Hence, we are under constant fear of reversibility of past gains. Furthermore, female voices in politics continue to be questioned for merit and mere existence in such a space, while their male counterparts are considered as natural power holders in politics. Although the impact of the appointment is too early to tell and better explained through research, I believe the government is under the impression that its push for parity is no longer needed, which is quite dangerous for the progress ahead. I aspire to see the movement grow through the establishment of sister chapters in all public universities across Ethiopia. I would like for us to engage in hosting public discussions at municipal to national levels and in the mainstream media too. A more productive, consistent and positive disruption is what I want the Yellow Movement to be known for. My activism on Facebook is almost exclusively designed to appeal to the younger feminist base, and that is how I meet many of my mentees. Although informal, I am able to mentor others through experience sharing and providing guidance on project undertakings. I have many personal and professional feminist projects at the moment; both ambits are labours of love, passion-driven spaces in my life. I am currently working on a platform called Temsalet.org along with a male partner in featuring the stories of exemplary women of Ethiopia and hosting a Ted Talk-format platform designed exclusively for women. I have been developing visual contents along with biographies in Amharic and English for our Temsalet Monday featurette. I am also running a merit-based scholarship program under the Yellow Movement to financially support and mentor female students in different departments. I have been involved in setting up feminist libraries in Mekelle University and Addis. I am also overseeing two research projects professionally, both with a gender lens and angle. I am engaged in developing a gender training manual for those in higher educational institutions, while simultaneously engaging in giving training myself. The reformist administration of my home town Addis is planning on introducing a new law on sex work that prohibits sex workers from operating in public streets. Accordingly the past month, I have been reading extensively on sex work and feminism in an effort to navigate the space of activism in an informed manner. I am currently reading a book of essays by those in the sex industry called Whores and Other Feminists. The book has allowed me to re-frame and expand my feminism and understand gender oppression in a deeper and at times uncomfortable manner. For someone whose first introduction to sex work was through reading the bible, I have yet to grasp the complexities of the choices women make every day. In reading the book, I am learning of the need for a paradigm shift in better understanding of women’s and men’s lives—not to forget male sex workers too, that we tend to forget, in our feminist work. As an activist who operates in a highly conservative and oppressive environment, venting is top of the list. Over the years, I have developed a conscious habit of venting to male friends about the fact of living in a ‘female body’. I know women can relate to these experiences more, but I don’t want to engage them in the labour of suffering with me. I do, however, want men to understand how common and mundane it is to experience misogyny, and I want to hold them accountable for helping me heal from it. Switching off my phone and staying indoors is another one. The nature of my work means I travel a lot so turning off my phone gives me time to disconnect. As Aklile just mentioned, the Aberash case was a critical moment. In October 2011, an Ethiopian Airlines flight attendant named Aberash Hailay lost her eyesight after her ex-husband stabbed both of her eyes with a wine opener. Her case seized the attention of many, eliciting a national outrage with repeated calls for justice and pledges that her name would never be forgotten. Despite the uproar, the outrage was short lived. We realized that our collective response to violence against women, often heard of on a daily basis, had become habitual. As law school students at the time, along with our gender and law lecturer, we started our activism in breaking down the court hearing and sharing the information with the wider public. We decided to initiate a consistent conversation in wanting to draw attention to issues of violence against women in Ethiopia. The name yellow came to be used because of the optimism of the colour, and our work that is grounded in the possibilities of change and positive disruption. As feminist educators, Tebussum and Inderjit employed various tenets of feminist and development pedagogy: treating trainees (us) as co-educators; building equality, solidarity, and support; anchored in examining how power is challenged, transformed, and created. External links Category: living people