As late as the first part of the 20th century, Queen Menen, consort of Emperor Haile Selassie I, had a decisive role in running the Ethiopian Empire.

In 1896, Empress Tayetu Betul, wife of Emperor Menelik II, actively advised the government and participated in defending the country from Italian invasion.

With a steady increase in female representation in education, they have started to undertake nursing, teaching, and other similarly supportive roles.

In the countryside, women are integrated into the rural economy, which is often labor-intensive and exacts a heavy physical toll on all, including children.

[11] Since sex between spouses is traditionally regarded as an obligation, the UNFPA argues that married women are at a greater risk of contracting HIV as they have less control over the frequency and nature of such relations.

A 21-year-old Bademe resident named Blen said that on November 5, 2020, she was kidnapped by soldiers from Eritrea and Ethiopia and held captive for 40 days together with an estimated 30 other women.

[22][23] Although legally proscribed under Articles 565 and 566 of the 2004 Penal Code,[15] the procedure is still widely practiced, as it is deeply ingrained in the local culture.

Encouraged and performed by women in the community, circumcision is primarily intended to deter promiscuity and to offer protection from assault.

According to surveys conducted in 2003 by the National Committee on Traditional Practices in Ethiopia, the custom's prevalence rate in the SNNPR was estimated at 92 percent.

[15] The 2014 gang rape and death of Hanna Lalango, as well as several other contemporaneous high-profile sexual assaults, prompted outrage from women in Ethiopia and internationally.

The USAID is one of the worldwide countries that have done a lot in promoting women in Ethiopia and giving them an opportunity to live a better life without discrimination.

In addition to the international help and participation, the Ethiopian government has also created some organizations such as the Ethiopian Women Association (EWA) which mainly focuses on stopping some dangerous cultural practises done against women and girls like FGM which involves removing some parts of their private parts and promoting their economic, social and legal rights.

[31] Addis Powerhouse is a young women-led feminist knowledge production platform based in Ethiopia, which was founded in 2020.

[32] Furthermore, Ethiopian girls and women's struggles and problems are mostly associated with social acceptance, access to education and child or forced marriages.

[33] Women are rarely perceived for their hard work, and most of the time a man figure in their lives confines their access to assets and network interest.

Teferra expresses that this kind of language strengthens negative generalizations and depicts gender based violence on women as though it is admissible and on occasion important.

Biased language use can influence uniformity for women, despite everything it places them on a lower proficient, social, and monetary level to men.

Ewenat Gebrehana talks about how "the criminalization of child marriage and passage of a relatively lenient abortion law illustrates the progress made in designing legislative frameworks to improve women’s health.

Fetura Mohammed, a 14-year-old in the Oromo region, had an organized marriage set by her dad, yet she just desired to "complete her education and have her own job before getting married.

The program additionally gives data about lawful arrangements and enables women to get sorted out into watch groups.

As women structure into watch groups they start to raise their voices and protest, spread open mindfulness, network with leaders, take legal actions, and form events for an after school clubs.

The 17 women watch groups in Kombolcha have created that system and engaged with community leaders, school clubs and law requirement offices to dispose of child marriage, and breaking down religions and traditional beliefs that help support it.

Through these courses of actions some men leaders who are traditional/old-fashioned that also use to rehearse these conventional convictions are currently taking a shot at abolishing it and playing a role in change.

[39] Mekitie Wondafrash, Tizta Tilahun, and Eshetu Girma come to a conclusion that to help empower women to make important decisions their needs to be a collective discussion addressing the issue to prevent pregnancy.

According to Binyam Bogale, Mekitie Wondafrash, Tizta Tilahun, and Eshetu Girma, high level of current modern contraceptive practice with reduced urban-rural difference was found as compared to regional and national figures.

"[40] On October 25, 2018, Sahle-Work Zewde was chosen to lead the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia as its fifth and first female president.

She was accredited to Mali, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, and the Gambia prior to beginning her long diplomatic career as ambassador to Senegal.

She spent ten years as the permanent representative to the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) as the ambassador in Djibouti.

Building on efforts by reformist prime minister Abiy Ahmed to establish gender parity in government, Ethiopia's parliament on Thursday swore in the nation's first female supreme court president.

Though there have been countless reports of other female mayors throughout Ethiopia; presiding over Addis Ababa ( a city of over 6 million) is a huge feat.