After the Tigray war, thousands of women fled their homes seeking safety in Addis Ababa. What many of them found instead was another kind of struggle — poverty, exploitation, and silence.
Horn Daily spoke with displaced women living in different parts of Addis, many of whom escaped severe violence during the conflict. One woman described how, in the middle of the war, there was “no law, no protection.” Armed men — sometimes even from their own side — would threaten women at knifepoint to force them into sex. “If you refused,” she said, “they would beat you or kill you.”
When peace was announced, survival did not become easier. Most of these women left behind everything — homes, schools, families — and came to Addis Ababa with nothing. They expected refuge, but found hunger and neglect. “There was no food, no clean water,” one young woman explained. “We used to boil water just to feel full. Sometimes we ate more water than food.”
Many of the displaced were high school and university students who never returned to class. In the capital, without support or language connections, some turned to men from their own community for help. But instead of protection, many faced pressure and sexual exploitation again — often disguised as offers of shelter or food.
“If you don’t have money or a place to sleep, they say they will help you,” one survivor said. “But the help means sex. You give your body just to stay somewhere for a night or two.”
Over time, desperation became a way of survival. Some young women now live on the streets or engage in sex work to afford rent and food. Older women, often grandmothers, beg with children at crossroads.
The crisis highlights how war destroys more than infrastructure — it tears apart the social and moral foundation of a country. In the absence of law, women became victims not only of enemies but also of their own communities.
What Ethiopia faces now is not only rebuilding peace but restoring dignity and protection for its most vulnerable citizens. Ignoring these women means accepting that violence has become a normal part of survival.