1.1 A vague definition of a prostitute in pre-20th century Ethiopia

2There are indications that prostitution existed in Ethiopia as early as the Medieval and Gondärine periods. However, in pre-20th century Ethiopia, as in other rural or partially urbanised societies, being called “a prostitute” may not necessarily have depended on whether or not a woman actually sold sex. It might refer to the woman’s relationship to men in general. For example, it might be enough that a woman is not officially tied to one man by marriage (or that she had been widowed or divorced for a long time) for her to be suspected of prostitution. It might also be related to certain kinds of activities that are believed to be associated with selling sex. Typical of such activities is the selling of alcoholic drinks. However, they might also include other activities that are believed to bring many males into the house of a woman or that put a woman into the presence of many men. A woman who is not married, who runs a drinking place or who travels around as a singer, might thus be very easily linked to prostitution whether she also sells sex or not. In traditional Ethiopia, it is possible to argue that the term “prostitute” had a very wide application and connotation, so wide, in fact, that it appears to have included virtually everything that women might do if they were not married and were not part of households headed by men. It appears that it was only later, with growing urbanisation and commercialisation in the country, that prostitution was gradually separated from the many cultural and social manifestations with which it was associated. It is only in more contemporary times, that the term has been developed into the strictly cash-for-sex sense, as found today in the dictionary.

3For example, in the traditional highland society of Ethiopia, terms which derived from the marital status of the woman, or more generally from her position vis-à-vis men like setana adari, galamota, fat, and qarre (or qirri) were used to denote or to describe a “prostitute.” Other terms which referred to the occupation or to the means of livelihood of the woman such as komarit, bala-mashata, atari, amarit (or azmarit) and ganbona also had the connotation of “prostitute.”

4These connotations are illustrated by the Portuguese chaplain Francisco Alvares who stayed from 1520 to 1526 at the court of King Lǝbnä Dǝngǝl (1508–1540). In his description of the royal camp, he mentioned the presence of the tents of the so-called prostitutes named “Amaritas,” a word translated at the beginning of the 20th century by the linguist Ignazio Guidi as a female minstrel or dancing girl.

5Galämota ጋለሞታ was the most popular or the most widely used term. The first mention of this word is to be found in the royal chronicle of King Iyasu I (1682–1706).

6Our sources indicate that the simultaneous uses of these words with “prostitute” include dictionaries prepared by Ethiopian writers as well as the foreign travellers whom Richard Pankhurst has quoted. Desta Teklewold puts amarit and ganbona together, which he defines as “singer, woman of melody, domestic servant, minstrel, (one who) insults people…”

7There are, however, two exceptions that should be pointed out about the 19th and early 20th century period. One is that, in the areas that were brought under European rule, like Eritrea, prostitution in the real sense of the term was very well known. Secondly, the 19th century saw an increasing use of the Arabic term for prostitute, sharmuta, which indicates that full time prostitution might have started also near the coastal areas and along the main centres of trade. It is, however, largely in the 20th century, with the urbanisation of the country and the commercialisation of services, that prostitution appears to have appeared more clearly and specifically.

1.2 Gondär, other centres and prostitution in the 19th century

8Whereas little information is found to establish the strict existence of prostitution before the 19th century, in the eyes of foreign travellers Gondär appeared to have witnessed prostitution as a widespread profession. In his article Richard Pankhurst detailed the opposition raised by Emperor Tewodros (1855–1868) against the practice in Gondär of däbtäras, monks or lay cleric visiting galämota or the wives of others.

9He also demonstrated that the practice of prostitution was also observed in other commercial towns, like Adwa, Däbrä Tabor, Qoraṭa or Liče and mentioned some other testimonies, such as that by the Armenian priest Dimotheos, that showed that it was widespread in other parts of the country, in towns and military camps.

10Richard Pankhurst also used the dictionaries of the late 19th century and beginning of the 20th century to explain that prostitution was known in other regions like in Harar, in the Somali, Afar and Oromo regions by demonstrating that the word “prostitute” was known and used in all languages.

11Richard Pankhurst, the sole author on the history of prostitution, indicated that ports and trade routes were important places for the activities of prostitutes, taking the example of the vicinities of Massäwa or of the Sudan borders. He also stated that prices for services ranged from a quarter to eight Maria Theresa dollars.

2.1 The development of urban centres and prostitution

12The development of urban settlements in Ethiopia, specifically the development of Addis Ababa into a permanent centre of government with the building of the Addis-Djibouti railway and the construction of roads that linked the capital to other parts of the country were important developments for the history of modern prostitution in Ethiopia.

13Particularly, there were two characteristics of the early urbanisation of Addis Ababa (and to a limited extent of the other urban centres like Dire-Dawa and Adama) that are important for the history of prostitution. One is that virtually all the inhabitants of the towns were immigrants from the countryside. Due to the economic and social conditions at the time, however, female immigrants, particularly the unmarried ones, had little chance of employment outside of the service sector. Secondly, the town was always full of many temporary visitors and travellers. Many of these men were followers of the military governors of the provinces visiting the Emperor. There were also the followers of the daja tani*, the lords who stayed in town hoping to receive appointments. These men at least partly depended on the services of the various eating, drinking and sleeping places in the town. It is, therefore, clear that hotel and bar businesses in the early decades of this century were dominated by women and that clients were mostly men who were away from their homes and from their families. These two elements appear to have allowed the expansion of prostitution in the new towns, particularly in the capital. In the early 1920s, the testimony of Mǝrab, quoted by Richard Pankhurst, gives extensive details about the functioning of some drinking houses that hosted prostitutes and clients. The researcher also provided more testimonies dating from the 1920s to the 1930s about the concerns of officials and intellectuals concerning the spread and location of “bawdy houses” and “brothels” in the city. He mentioned the confusing uses of a Red Cross sign, which was prohibited in the 1930s, shown outside drinking houses to publicize prostitution activities.

2.2 The Italian occupation of Ethiopia and the spread of prostitution

14The Italian occupation of Ethiopia brought about the increasing commercialisation and expansion of prostitution in Ethiopia. The fact that the number of Italian men and women who came to the country was imbalanced contributed to the situation. To meet the demand of a very large army, the colonial authorities encouraged divorced and single women to come to towns and set up bars and brothels. To satisfy the interests of their army, they even tried to import prostitutes from Europe. Quoting Poggiali as his source, Pankhurst states that the Italians imported some French prostitutes to the country. But soon, the French prohibited the act due to its implications for “French racial dignity.” Since using Italian women as prostitutes was strictly forbidden for reasons of prestige, the Italian army had to depend on Ethiopian women for sexual gratification.

Figure 32. L. Naretti, Sifilicomio di Asmara

15Both before and after the conflict, the Italians had a rather carefree attitude towards sex with “native women,” somewhat contrary to their strict racial policies in other matters. Before the conflict, the Italians made extensive use of native women as local wives, called “madams” in Eritrea (see Source 97).1F In fact, in addition to prostitution, what is called colonial concubinage (madamato), a relationship between native women and foreigners, has been studied and even has its own literature. The preparation for the invasion of Ethiopia also brought about the expansion of prostitution in Eritrea. The coming of many Italian soldiers and labourers to the colony created extensive demands for sex, leading to considerable sexual violence by Italian men on local women. The war had, in fact, a significant effect on Italian attitudes toward sex in Africa. One of the chief ways of attracting volunteers into the Italian army was the dissemination of pornographic literature and pornographic pictures displaying the tender, attractive bodies of Ethiopian women.

Figure 33. “Ufficio Postale.” Popular Postcard in Italia 1930s

Figure 34. “Al Mercato.” Popular Postcard in Italia 1930s

16The Fascist authorities sponsored the publication in Italy of numerous erotic or semi-erotic postcards showing the beauties of Ethiopian womanhood. Soldiers’ songs were composed about the charms of Ethiopian girls.

17As a result, following the occupation Addis Ababa had become the main centre of prostitution in Italian East Africa. Many Ethiopian women, single or divorced, were forced into the practice, some quite literally. Moreover, the effect of the war on family life was enormous for Ethiopians. Because of the war, many family breadwinners, almost always men, either lost their lives or joined the resistance movement. So, the war left many women without means of supporting themselves and their children. Given the fact that employment opportunities were virtually nil, many had to turn to the only alternative available to starvation: employment in the drinking houses and selling their bodies.

18Very few women who were driven to prostitution out of desperation came out of it, even after the husbands of some of them returned home. Their intimate association with the Italians created a sense of uncleanliness and of shame out of which they were unable to extract themselves. Many, therefore, continued as prostitutes. Consequently, the number of women who were engaged in prostitution increased dramatically. It was reported that by 1938 there were approximately 1,500 Ethiopian women involved, each occupying a house, as well as three brothels where 47 white women were reserved exclusively for Italian nationals.

19Among the distinctive contributions of the Italian period were the official efforts that were made to register and licence prostitutes as prostitutes. The main motive behind this registration and licensing was, of course, to control sexually transmitted or venereal diseases. The figures given above are, therefore, official figures about registered or at least “officially known” prostitutes. They are, therefore, likely to be underestimations of the actual number of women who were in the business.

20Of course, the Italians did not fully succeed in their efforts to limit or eliminate venereal diseases. Both official and unofficial sources indicate that the Italian army was ravaged by these diseases. Medical supplies or treatments could not keep up with the rate of infections. For instance, a single record of cases over a period of 15 months showed that there were 11,000 new infections. Some of the diseases were so horrific that many Italian soldiers committed suicide upon learning of the nature of their infections, as was reported in newspapers, such as New Times and Ethiopia News (January 24, 1942).

21It is significant, however, that prostitution as the business of selling sex as such, not just as a side business going with selling other things, was officially recognised and licensed during the Italian period. This is a very significant watershed in the history of this practice and marks a new phase in its evolution.

3.1 Only a few themes in research

23In terms of themes, research on prostitution in Ethiopia has tended to be highly repetitive often focusing on “causes of prostitution,” “types of prostitution” and “consequences of prostitution.” There is often a tendency to focus on either the factors that drive women to “prostitution,” such as early marriage, or on the social problems that prostitution created. Very little effort has been made to explore the perspectives and experiences of women who are already in the sex business or to place prostitution in the context of wider socioeconomic conditions and processes (for exceptions, let us mention the works of Laketch in 1978, of Tekola in 2005, Selamawit in 2009 and Sehin in 2015). It appears that this was partly a result of lack of integration, i.e. research projects were often not related to each other or did not refer to each other much. In fact, most of the literature on prostitution has consisted of unpublished reports prepared for government or non-government agencies or small-scale studies by students to fulfil degree requirements.

3.2 Only a few integrative approaches

24In terms of methodological approach, most of the studies used either quantitative approaches, and more specifically, the case studies of often very small samples of prostitutes through questionnaire-based structured surveys, or qualitative methods which often involved interviewing small numbers of prostitutes. With very few exceptions, little effort has been made to integrate qualitative and quantitative approaches in a single study.