Jane Matthews reporting from Addis Ababa

WHEN MICHEÁL MARTIN ARRIVED at the Association for Women’s Sanctuary and Development (AWSAD) safe house for women in Addis Ababa his delegation was greeted by women in beautiful white dresses, smiling and dancing.

Each person, including the Tánaiste, was given a handmade card and a single rose by a young girl while they watched the women and girls dance.

Inside each card was a handwritten message from a different woman or girl. The card given to this reporter read: “I am 16 years old, I was raped by a stranger and made this card with the art therapy that I got in AWSAD safe house. Thank you for your support.”

One of the handmade cards given to journalists

The special display of dancing was for the Tánaiste and the Irish Ambassador to Ethiopia Nicola Brennan, who were visiting the safe house which is in part supported by Irish Aid.

The safe house is a shelter for women and girls, some as young as two years old, who have been the victim of rape and other forms of gender-based violence.

Set up by Maria Munir Yusuf in 2005, it is one of six in Ethiopia established by the former judge.

Handwritten note inside one of the cards

Yusuf spent years working in Ethiopia’s legal system, first as a lawyer and then as a judge where she witnessed first-hand the failures of the justice system when it came to gender-based violence.

Working with other women lawyers, she began to provide free legal aid to women who had suffered violence and abuse. 

It was from this work that she saw the need for a shelter for victims of male violence.

The shelter in Addis Ababa was the first safe house for victims of gender-based violence to ever exist in Ethiopia.

Thousands of women across Ethiopia now use AWSAD’s services annually.

Over the years Ireland has been a supporter of Yusuf’s work.

Maria Munir Yusuf, a former Judge is the founder of AWSAD

Last year, Ambassador Brennan and the Irish Embassy in Addis Ababa funded the building of a wall around the centre, which had just relocated to a new site, for the safety of the women and girls.

Welcoming the Tánaiste to the centre, Yusuf said:

If you go around the city of Addis, you will find so many women with kids on the streets.

“If you ask them their problem, many will be survivors of violence. 

“If we are not going to support these women who is going to do it? Who?”

The overwhelming majority of women using AWSAD’s safe houses are there because of rape, often by male family members.

“The worst is your father, you are meant to trust your father,” Yusuf said.

In the safe house, shelter is offered for as long as is needed while counselling, medical care and skills training is provided.

Yusuf giving Martin a tour of the facilities and some of the dormitories

The majority of women who use the centre are under 18 years of age and are pregnant when they arrive. There were many young children and babies in the shelter with their mothers when the Tánaiste visited.

Yusuf shared some of their stories with the Tánaiste:

One two-year old girl was raped by an older man.

A 70-year-old woman was raped by a gang on her way to church.

Another girl was proposed to. When she said no, the man slit her throat and left her to die.

“There are so many complicated cases…that’s what the safe house is for,” Yusuf said.

Micheál Martin added his name to the visitors wall at the centre

While there yesterday, the Tánaiste laid the foundation stone for a building funded with €60,000 from Ireland that will be used as a counselling centre. Currently counselling is delivered from a tent set up on the site.

After laying the foundation stone the Tánaiste announced that an additional €100,000 would be donated by Ireland to AWSAD.

Maria Munir Yusuf and Ambassador Brennan pictured yesterday

Ambassador Brennan explained to reporters how the money will go towards building dormitories, a playschool for the children and a training centre that can be used for women in AWSAD and those outside to try and generate resources for the safe house.

“They’re really thinking sustainably, they need initial capital for the infrastructure and after that, they’re thinking how are we going to keep this going and generate resources to keep the safe house working,” Brennan said.

“Not only is this safe house needed here in Addis but the work they do and the support they provide is required right across the country.

Ambassador Brennan and Maria Yusuf embrace each other as they say goodbye. Jane Matthews Jane Matthews

“There’s a lot of conflict-related sexual violence in Ethiopia and [Maria Munir Yusuf] provides a lot of technical support and other capacity-building to other organisations that are responding to that,” she added.

Brennan’s four-year posting in Ethiopia finishes this week, and the Ambassador is set to move to her next role in Tanzania. 

Describing Yusuf as a “tour de force”, Brennan has no doubt she will keep the Irish connection alive with the safe house.

Before the Irish delegation departed yesterday there was more dancing, with the Tánaiste, Ambassador Brennan and their teams joining in with the women and girls.

The Tánaiste praised Yusuf’s commitment and perseverance before leaving and added: “We will continue to support you, of that you can be assured.”

If you have been affected by any of the issues mentioned in this article, you can reach out for support through the following helplines:

•  DRCC - 1800 77 8888 (fre, 24-hour helpline) 
•  Samaritans – 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org (suicide, crisis support)
•  Pieta – 1800 247 247 or text HELP to 51444 – (suicide, self-harm)
•  Teenline – 1800 833 634 (for ages 13 to 19)
•  Childline – 1800 66 66 66 (for under 18s)