Patriarchal Values and Their Subversion

Consensual and Nonconsensual Bride Abduction in Central Ethiopia

Bibliographic Data

ID2229183
AuthorsDejene Gemechu Chala (0000-0003-1378-4345), Zerihun Mekuria Tesfaye (0000-0003-4846-5299, Jimma University, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume78
Issue4
Pages511-530
Publication date2022-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Anthropological Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0091-7710 • E-ISSN: 2153-3806
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/721972
OpenAlexW4311829320
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited13

This article deals with bride abduction among the Oromo in Oromia National Regional State (Oromia), central Ethiopia. The data collection was done through key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and case studies in January and February 2020. Both consensual and nonconsensual bride abductions are documented. Girls consent to their abduction to evade parental decisions on their marriage and subvert the patriarchal values of marriage. Young men use bride abduction to lower the cost of marriage and gain access to girls of their choice, with or without the girls’ consent. Once abducted and raped, girls marry their abductors to restore their sexual integrity by observing the patriarchal value of premarital virginity. Older women also reproduce patriarchal values by putting pressure on the abducted girls to accept the marriage. Both consensual and nonconsensual bride abductions function within the patriarchal system, one to challenge and the other to perpetuate it

Bride · Political science · Sociology · Subversion · Virginity test · Wife · Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences · Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting Issues · Gender Studies · History · Law · Marriage and Sexual Relationships · Psychology

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