Eritrea

Eritrea, situated in the Horn of Africa (in the northeastern part of the continent), was an Italian colony from 1890 until World War II, after which it was federated with Ethiopia, separated in 1993 and [Page 357]become an independent nation. It has a population of 4.4 million, and has a female life expectancy of 60.6 years. The birth rate in the country is 34.3 per 1,000, and there is an infant mortality rate of 46.3 per 1,000 live births. During the period of colonial rule, there was little attempt to improve the life of the vast majority of the population. Women continued to live as homemakers and tend to crops, as well as taking part in grinding corn. Abeba Tesfagiorgis, in her book A Painful Season—A Stubborn Hope (1992), helped provide details on the women of Eritrea during the Ethiopian occupation.

After the 1975 Communist Revolution in Ethiopia (which included Eritrea), the Revolutionary Ethiopia Women's Association was established to improve the education of women. Since independence in 1993, there have been increased efforts to widen the coverage of the health services, but many problems remain, including the prevalence of female genital mutilation in some areas. A spiritual cult called the Zar still exists in Eritrea, and still practices ancient customs, including spiritual healing.

Australian writer Thomas Keneally became interested in events in Eritrea, and his novel Towards Asmara (1989) was one of the few bestsellers written about the country before independence. It highlights the problems many girls faced with female genital mutilation, and the fact that so many mothers had to bring their children to refugee camps to seek aid from foreign donors. Unlike in neighboring Djibouti, where many women are involved as market traders, few women do such work in Eritrea.