Political Gender Parity as an Outcome of Protests: Evaluating Ethiopia’s Experiment

Contrary to the prevailing trend of shrinking civic space worldwide, citizens are using non-institutional collective action to instigate change, particularly evident in non-democratic contexts where avenues for expressing dissent are scarce or contested. Recent protest campaigns in the Horn of Africa - Ethiopia and Sudan, have been instrumental in driving political transformations. In addition to their potential to foster democracy and peace, these transformations were initially celebrated for promoting gender equality. One of the major reforms following the 2018 political change in Ethiopia was the introduction of gender parity in the cabinet, spearheaded by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who also appointed women to some of the country’s highest offices, including the President. However, shortly after this reform, referred to as the gender parity reform in this article, Ethiopia descended into devastating civil conflicts that weaponised sexual violence, a phenomenon mirrored in neighbouring Sudan. Given that women’s political representation was not a stated goal of the protests that catalysed the 2018 political change in Ethiopia, this article investigates the motivations behind the gender parity reform - whether they are well-intentioned or aligned with what has been termed “autocratic genderwashing.” Furthermore, it assesses the evolution of the reform’s implementation within the context of conflicts and its broader implications for gender equality. Our research methods included semi-structured interviews with key informants and an online public survey, which were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Among several key insights, our findings caution against viewing autocratic genderwashing solely as pejorative, given its negative and positive implications for gender equality. They also highlight the importance of establishing legal requirements for gender parity in appointed positions, such as cabinets, to enhance sustainable representation. Additionally, the need for democratic dispensation is underscored, particularly considering the significant challenges that women in politics face in non-democratic settings.