Awra Amba RJ 300612 EN - Contacter un comité local d'Attac

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4. Social organisation
(3.7 persons instead 5.2) according to Ya08/95. It was 3.8 persons in 2005 (At05/33-34) and 3.4
persons in 2008 (Me09/37), to compare to the figures from the 2007 census: 4.5 and 4.4 persons per
household in the rural kebeles of Amhara region and in the Fogera woreda respectively (CSA,
2007/317 & 325). There is therefore around one person less per household in Awra Amba.
Married women have an inalienable right to contraception (natural as well as artificial ones) without
the knowledge of their husbands if necessary, an all are aware of contraception (awraamba, nd;
Ya08/77 & 82) (Question 25 in Annex). Contraception is anyway widely used in Ethiopia. The
community considers that a woman older than 45 should no longer have children. Nevertheless, the
community does not demand the right to abortion, illegal but openly discussed in Ethiopia. They
think that abortion remains a private affair, always possible in a private clinic in town (Jo10b).
Premarital sex and sex outside marriage should be forbidden (Jo10b). It seems rather according to
(At05/42 & 79) they are now disapproved without being openly criticized; the limited number of
potential partners, given the difficulty of marriages outside the community, could explain partially
this situation (Question 26 in Annex). Finally, prostitution is prohibited (Ya08/85).
Rape is of course forbidden, and a boy accused of rape can be banned from the community or have to
wait for a long years to get married (At05/42). Atnafu thinks the most important control mechanism
over the sexual life before marriage is a rigorous self-discipline based on the values and principles of
the community.
4.4.2. Divorce
It is easy a spouse to obtain a divorce, that is moreover frequent in Ethiopia, although it goes still
often against the tradition in some rural areas (France 24, 2009). A couple may divorce without
formalities by mutual consent (At05/42). Nevertheless, divorce must be justified to be allowed by the
community: the acceptable reasons are among others sexual incompatibility, sterility, laziness,
existence of repeated disagreements, and violating rights of the partner. According to a survey
among the heads of households, these reasons are also the reasons of divorce at 35, 32, 17, 15 and
2 % respectively (Ya08/81-82). In 5 years, only one people, a woman, filed for divorce in a court of
law (Me09/54).
Young children remain with their mother, while older children choose with whom they wish to live
(Crespo, 2012). The property of the couple is shared equally (At05/42).
A widow can remarry any time, which is not the case in the traditional Amhara society (At05/42).
The frequency of divorce has lowered and they are now quite rare. Atnafu (2005/79) explains that by
the geographic stability of the community members, unlike the former exile period, and by the
growing opposition in principle to divorce among the former Awra Amba children now adults.
4.4.3. Homestead
Levine (1965/56) states the traditional Amhara peasant homestead consists of from one to six small
round structures, built of wattle and capped with conical thatched roofs. The richest homesteads have
one building for eating and sleeping, one for animals, one for grain storage, one as a kitchen, and one
for guests, while for many peasants all these functions are met by a single large building. The
homestead is for both parents and their unmarried children, possibly a young married son or daughter
and a young relative. The wealthier the peasant, the more relatives and servants will be found in the
homestead (At05/44-45).
In Awra Amba, family houses have wattle-and-daub walls and a roof made of thatch and more and
more of iron sheeting (see Picture 12). Unlike Amhara houses, they are rectangular. The house of the
founder and leader is larger than others (At05/37). The community members usually build
themselves collectively the houses and the other collective structures. Both men and women do the
planning and most of the manual work. They prepare the material first and then bring them to the