1.1 Causes of migration during the 19th and early 20th century

2When migration occurred, it was normally led by men, who left their agricultural plots often temporarily (on a short term or seasonal basis), to offer labour services or meet military obligations. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, several communities, especially in the southern half of the country, paid their tribute or tax obligations to the state through the offer of labour services, principally in the capital city, Addis Ababa, where they stayed for part of a year working on the construction of roads and buildings, and for the imperial household and royal estates. In time, many also migrated in search of work to earn additional income to supplement rural income or start a new life in their new habitats. Military campaigns, which caused significant population movements in the country in the 19th and early 20th century, were also largely the affairs of men. Even labour migration—both voluntary and forced—which began in the late 19th century among some of Ethiopia’s communities (like the Gurage and Dorze) remained an almost exclusive preserve of men until early in the 20th century. By then, however, the principal patterns of Ethiopian women’s migration were emerging and beginning to take shape.

3In the first phase, independent migration of women did not exist and women moved mainly to join their fathers or husbands who were already established in new areas. The migration of most of the men, and the women, predominantly wives, who would join them later, occurred in a seasonal manner as they preferred to work temporarily in the towns at low points in the agricultural sector in their rural villages. These migrants were therefore largely reluctant townsmen and townswomen. Urban income was inadequate, urban land tenure was restrictive to many and living conditions in the towns were expensive and harsh—and significantly worse than in the rural areas.

1.2 The beginning of women’s independent migration (1936–1941)

4The Italian occupation (1936–1941) represented a temporary increase in the scale of migration, especially to urban centres, which saw improving employment conditions and more security than rural Ethiopia, which was engulfed in a bloody war of armed resistance. For example, Addis Ababa’s population, which was about 100,000 in 1935, trebled to over 300,000 in just three years. The period saw the beginning, though to a limited degree, of independent migration by women whose lives were disrupted by the depredations of Italian atrocities and Ethiopian resistance. This would intensify in the post-liberation period, after 1941.

1.3 Large-scale urban migration for women (1941–1975)

5The period from 1941 to 1975 established the fundamentals of female migration in Ethiopia. These changes occurred in the context of an economy which, though fundamentally feudal, was evolving under the pressure of global capitalism mediated through Ethiopia’s peripheral insertion into the international system. The monetisation of the rural economy, changing socioeconomic conditions in the rural areas and growing resistance to institutionalised patriarchy created the conditions for the large-scale migration of women to the towns. Urban centres, also offered the opportunities to attract and absorb the ‘influx’ from their rural counterparts.

6The changes outlined above affected women disproportionately. Let us cite two examples. Rural deprivation, which resulted from declining agricultural productivity (owing to population increase, dwindling agricultural plots, and growing demands for resources by an ever-extractive state), was more intense for women who in most cases lacked or were denied access to critical resources such as land. Rural poverty was therefore feminised to a large extent but migration, which offered a way out of poverty, was not, and it remained so until recently. Men remained the gender with the most resources but more women were breaking barriers and migrating independently and on a permanent basis. Another example concerns the entrenched patriarchy, which made life difficult or untenable for women especially those who were barren, widowed, divorced, abandoned, unmarried or young. Such women flocked to urban centres, dissatisfied with the prospects of village life, restrictive and burdensome social roles and expectations, and attracted by relative freedom and potential social mobility in the towns. There, migrant women engaged in petty trading, and to some extent were employed as domestic workers and in bars and restaurants, sometimes as sex workers. Others married and became housewives. In the process, women would constitute the majority, between 50 and 60 percent, of the population in many of the Ethiopian towns.

2.1 The revolution and its impact on women’s migration

7The Ethiopian revolution in 1975 and the changes it engendered, such as the nationalisation of rural and urban land, and extra urban houses and industries, reconfigured the political economy of the country. The impact on the migration process was unmistakable although the above-mentioned factors had the effect, at least in the early years, of discouraging migration. Women now enjoyed greater access to land ownership and such social amenities as education and health; many joined the workforce, both informal and formal, and rural peasant associations that gave them a measure of power. Yet, poverty remained disproportionately feminised thereby intensifying the conditions stimulating female migration.

2.2 The revolution and its impact on women in urban Ethiopia

8The revolutionary period unleashed major processes that heightened the factors and improved the capacity for the migration of women, predominantly to the urban centres. Apart from deepening poverty and inequality between the genders, which continued despite the liberatory promises of the revolution, expanding networks of transport eased migration from rural villages. Women, increasingly young and unmarried, who sought to escape the drudgery and restrictions of rural life and/or were enthralled by the promises and possibilities, real or alleged, of the city (health, education, work, economic and social empowerment) embarked on a migration that would in time change the demography of urban Ethiopia. A 1967 survey (Imperial Ethiopian Government, Survey of Major Towns) found that in every major town except Addis Ababa, female migrants outnumbered their male counterparts. By 1978, even in the capital the number of women migrants was higher than men. The Ethiopian experience was therefore contrary to the situation seen in much of the developing world where male migration was prevalent.

9Although the majority of women stayed in their rural habitat, many migrated to urban centres where they settled down, got some education, and achieved a measure of economic independence. Such a story or a perception of success had an impact on the migration decision of many women. Some would opt to move using established networks and routes hoping to survive or succeed in a world that was increasingly complex yet still irresistible. Most women, however, found themselves at the bottom of the socioeconomic scale, leading a precarious lifestyle, and were therefore vulnerable to the volatility of urban life and to the abuse and violation of their rights and dignity.

2.3 The revolution and the beginning of international labour migration

10An important development of the revolutionary period was the start of Ethiopia’s international (labour) migration, in particular to the Middle East but also to neighbouring countries and to Europe and North America. While the nexus between economic deprivation and migration was still pervasive, the intensification of political instability and persecution was causing a new wave of migration, transnational in nature, involving Ethiopia’s educated and politically active youth. Women, a minority, were represented in the group who were leaving the country and sometimes never returning, a new phenomenon that would intensify in the succeeding decades. The internationalisation of Ethiopian migration thus began in earnest and would become fairly feminised in the late 1990s and afterwards.

3.1 International migration

11Since 1991, freedom of movement has been a constitutional right. In the past three decades an increasing number of young women have migrated abroad, in particular to the Middle East where they are mainly employed in the service sector, in particular as domestic workers. Most of the women are between 18 and 35 years old and unmarried, and migrate to support their families (Ban Ki-Moon 2013). Rural poverty caused by, amongst other things, overpopulation, land scarcity, government agricultural policies, and a lack of agricultural resources partly explains the increased migration of young women from rural areas to the Middle East. Rural families increasingly see migration of their daughters as one of the few ways to improve their livelihoods. The migration of women to the Middle East is in most cases organised by Private Employment Agencies (PEAs), yet there are also women who migrate via brokers and smugglers, especially those who are under 18 years old because from a legal viewpoint they are not allowed to migrate across borders. Moreover, not all employment agencies are licensed, with the result that women sometimes enter the country of migration without proper documents. Undocumented women (and men) risk deportation. Women’s work as domestics makes them vulnerable to abuse and exploitation, and stories of women who have been mentally, physically and sexually abused are abundant.

12The Ethiopian government therefore regularly installs bans on migration to countries in the Middle East. Yet, there are also women who benefit from their migration and who are able to set up small businesses or build houses in Ethiopia.

3.2 Internal migration

13Internal migration of young women has also increased since the 1990s. In addition to helping their families, adolescent girls also migrate in order to escape oppressive gender regimes, for example by running away from gender-based violence such as forced (and early) marriages. Moreover, the lack of educational and employment opportunities for women in rural areas inspires migration to urban areas. In many cases secondary education is only available in rural towns with the result that adolescent girls have to move out of the village to continue their schooling. Sometimes girls join their relatives in bigger towns intending to continue their education but end up doing domestic work instead. In cases where they encounter abuse and exploitation, they may run away and take up sex work. The number of young female sex workers in Addis Ababa and other urban centres has increased since the 2000s. Whereas sex work sometimes gives migrant girls more freedom of movement and a higher income, there are high risks of abuse and exploitation. In addition, sex work is highly stigmatised. Another group of internal migrant women are young women who move to the cities to continue higher education. They often live on campuses, and enter the formal labour market after having finished their education.