mono85-069f8739e91c9aa9.pdf

This report examines the recruitment, demobilisation, and reintegration experiences of female ex-combatants in Ethiopia, specifically those who joined the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) as children. Using semi-structured interviews and repertory grid analysis, the study explores how military socialisation shaped these women's identities and their subsequent conflict with traditional gender roles in civilian society.

• The study found that female ex-combatants of the TPLF often joined the movement as children, with an average recruitment age of 12.68 years. Motivations for joining included peer influence, family members already in the army, escaping early marriage, or being attracted by the movement's cultural activities like songs and dancing.
• Within the TPLF, women experienced a high degree of equality and respect compared to civilian life. They shared duties equally with men, including combat and domestic tasks, and reported that sexual relations were based on mutual consent with strict punishments for rape.
• The TPLF implemented significant socio-economic reforms in Tigray to promote gender equality, including raising the minimum marriage age to 18, introducing equal land and property ownership rights, and establishing women's associations and boarding schools.
• Female ex-combatants experienced a 'culture shock' upon reintegration, as the assertive, equal, and collective identity they developed in the military clashed with traditional Ethiopian feminine values of passivity and domesticity.
• Reintegrated women struggled with the sudden burden of individual household management and a lack of equality with men in the domestic sphere, often performing both housework and breadwinning roles.
• Despite receiving government jobs and education up to Grade 12, many female ex-combatants felt economically vulnerable and stuck in low-paid, unskilled positions such as janitors or guards.
• Repertory grid analysis revealed that female ex-combatants internalised a strong sense of equality, self-confidence, and political awareness, which they viewed as positive changes compared to women who had never been fighters.
• The report notes a disparity in demobilisation support between different forces in Ethiopia; while the TPLF prioritised female reintegration, the commission for the Derg army was accused of overlooking the needs of female ex-combatants.
• The study argues that for women who enter military forces as children, demobilisation is not merely a transition but a confrontation between two entirely different socialisation experiences, suggesting that 'add-on' gender models in programming are insufficient.

APA

Veale, A. (n.d.). mono85-069f8739e91c9aa9.pdf. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Mono85.pdf

Chicago

Veale, Angela. mono85-069f8739e91c9aa9.pdf. Institute for Security Studies, n.d. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Mono85.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Veale |first1=Angela |title=mono85-069f8739e91c9aa9.pdf |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Mono85.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{vealendmono85069f8739e91c9aa9pdf, author = {Veale, Angela}, title = {{mono85-069f8739e91c9aa9.pdf}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Mono85.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }