How Revolution has changed Eritrean Women
The Eritrean people have been waging a relentless struggle, paying precious sacrifices in the process, in order to regain their national and democratic rights and uproot the exploitative and oppressive order that had shackled them for more than four centuries. The Eritrean people had suffered more than 60 years of debilitating economic exploitation, social oppression and racial discrimination of European colonialism spearheaded by British and Italian imperialisms. World imperialism has moreover conspired again to shackle the Eritrean people under the backward feudo-bourgeoisie colonial Ethiopian rule entailing unbridled repression and exploitation for the last thirty years.
The colonialists have perpetuated their domination of our people not only through the classical patterns of confiscating their land, exploiting their natural and human resources, and subjecting them to intensive social oppression and political repression. Their schemes have not been divorced from and they have largely employed for their own ends, the prevalent backward socio-economic relations.
The colonialists have perpetuated their rule through abetting and collaborating with the internal forces of reaction. Repression, arrests, torture, executions, have thus been constant features of colonial rule entailing the liquidation of many a heroic patriot throughout the years of colonial rule. Our masses, on the other hand, have never detracted from struggling to smash colonial rule and redress the injustices and suppression incurred on them. They are currently perfecting their methodology of struggle drawing upon the experiences of the revolutionary forces the world over.
After a long a bitter period of peaceful political struggles, the patriotic forces launched the armed struggle in 1961, convinced that the reactionary repression of the forces of colonialism can only be countered and pacified by the revolutionary violence of the masses. Our masses promptly acclaimed and wholeheartedly sanctified the correct path embarked upon. Nonetheless, the feudo-bourgeoisie leadership which dominated the Eritrean Liberation Front in the sixties could not harness and galvanize the patriotic forces who were flocking en masse to the liberation struggle strongly propelled by their abhorence of colonial rule and vigorous nationalism, as it lacked a coherent and democratic political line.
It must a lso be underl ined that the pl ight of Eritrean women within the colonial socio-economic context was extremely unbearable . l nspite of and irrespective of their invaluable contributions to the material well-being and social develop ment of the society, they were invariably relegated to subsubhuman status by virtue of their sex. Their access to political and social rights, however nominal for the masses as a whole, were replete with sexual prejudices. In the rural areas, albeit their equal participation in the subsistence agricultural work, they were overburdened with the extra job of shouldering domestic work, child tending etc, for the rest of the day.
In the cities, women were eligible for those jobs generally deemed below the dignity of men and paid less than half of the normal wages. Those few who had access to education were mostly forced to quit halfway through family pressures and the deeply entrenched feudal norms which saw the women's fullfilment exclusively in marriage.
Although Eritrean women have generally participated in the political struggles of the 50's, they stepped up their militancy and began to join the armed struggle after 1961. The feudo-bourgeoisie leadership of the ELF (Eritrean Liberation Front), however, could not encourage and ensure the appropriate participation of women. The patriarchal and parochial attitudes prevalent in the backward society, of which the ELF leadership was a leading preponent, militated against the simmering yearning of the masses to violently smash the old order. The ELF leadership thus vainly attempted to restrict the participation of women in the struggle and relegated those who joined to subordinate and "traditional" roles of cooking food for combatants and other auxiliary jobs.
The Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) has since its The Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) has since its inception, waged an all-round struggle to abolish all existing reactionary social relations and norms and to liberate the land and country through the implementation of its scientific ideology and strategy of protracted people's war. And much has been achieved so far even if the road ahead is still difficult.In particular, the revolution has scaled remarkable, if not unprecedented,achievements in respect to the struggle to liberate women. As briefly mentioned earlier, in the old feudo-bourgeoisie society, women were confined to domestic work and other residual jobs and groomed to be loyal subservients of man, with their talents and human dignity routinely undermined.The EPLF led on-going revolutionary changes have not only rendered obsolete the prevalent stereotyped social status of women, but a new and progressive marriage law supplanting the reactionary norms based on safeguarding male economic supremacy has also been promulgated. The new marriage law prohibits all feudal regulations and norms denigrating women and promotes and ensures the equality of the sexes. This is a significant and concrete achievement of the ongoing revolution.
Together with the radical general socio-economic transformationsTogether with the radical general socio-economic transformations already realized in the liberated areas under the leadership of the EPLF, all the legal and formal strictures reinforcing male supremacy have been abolished and extensive opportunities for women to fully develop their productive capabilities and play their revolutionary role been fostered. Women are today performing their revolutionary duties with heroism and distinction, deployed in all units of the Front. The relatively high percentage of women combatants — currently standing over SC/j — is in itself indicative of the impressive development and extent of their participation in the revolution. That this trend will henceforth constitute a constant feature of our revolution is indisputable and consonant with the laws of dialectics. Today, the Eritrean woman is not only fighting,arms in hand, Ethiopian colonialism on the side of her male comrade as a member of the EPLA or the people's militia,but democratically elected to all levels of leadership in the people's assemblies and organs of self-rule, she is involved in shaping the political, economic and cultural future of her society and contributing unparalleled feats in the history of our people.
Maximum efforts are today being exerted and intensive literacy Maximum efforts are today being exerted and intensive literacy programs pursued in the liberated areas in order to elevate her cultural standards and vanquish the reactionary norms.Simultaneously, extensive opportunities, enhancing the equal participation of women combatants at all the technical and administrative levels of the Front and in the politicization and organization of the masses in order to break and concretely demonstrate the banality of the ossified patterns of relegating women to domestic work and general subservience, have been tapped.
The struggle for the equality and emancipation of women is The struggle for the equality and emancipation of women is necessarily intertwined and in divisble from the general struggle to liberate the masses from exploitation and oppression. The woman question thus holds an important place in all social revolutions and national liberation movements and is closely bound with the progress and course of the struggle of the broad masses. The experiences of all revolutions attest that the victory of a people's war and the general struggle to achieve.
the liberation of the masses cannot be successful without the liberation of the masses cannot be successful without the full participation and mobilization of women.The Eritrean masses have in the course of a long period of struggle, refined their organizational capacity, raised their consciousness,strengthened and consolidated their unity,established a people's militia to defend their revolutionary gains, largely eliminated sexual prejudices and attendant social privileges and formed people's assemblies in all liberated areas.They have regained the authority over their destiny and generally tasted the sweet fruits of independence and liberation.The new political, economic, social and cultural life permeating the liberated areas have enabled the doubly oppressed women, held in literal servitude for centuries, to have a glimpse of egalitarian life and heralded their dignified social status in new and independent Eritrea.
Eritrean women are today concretely demonstrating their commitment to the liberation struggle by joining and exerting all efforts to advance and consolidate the National Union of Eritrean Women (NUEW), which spearheads and promotes their emancipation. The strength and broad support NUEW enjoys also illustrates the inevitable victory of the EPLF led national democratic revolution.
Below we reprint the EPLF national democratic programme on the rights of women, ratified in its first Congress in 1977 and already largely implemented in the liberated areas.
Women's RightsWomen's Rights
1. Develop an association through which women can participate in the struggle against colonial aggression and for social transformation.
2. Outline a broad program to free women from domestic confinement, develop their participation in social production,and raise their political, cultural and technical levels.
3. Assure women full rights of equality with men in politics,economy and social life as well as equal pay for equal work
.4. Promulgate progressive marriage and family laws.
5. Protect the right of women workers to two months' maternity leave with full pay.
6. Protect the right of mothers and children, provide delivery,nursery, and kindergarten services.
7. Fight to eradicate prostitution.
8. Respect the right of women not to engage in work harmful to their health.
9. Design programs to increase the number and upgrade the quality of women leaders and public servants.
VICTORY TO THE MASSES!
National Union of Eritrean Women Via Firenze 15, int. 3 Rome, Italy