{{Short description|Women's rights group}} {{Infobox organization/Wikidata |fetchwikidata=ALL }} '''Yikono''' (Tigrinya for ''enough''<ref name="AfricanFeminism_Yikono_profile" /><ref name="BBC_lost_hand" />) is a grassroots women's rights group based in Tigray Region in Ethiopia that is opposed to gender-based violence.<ref name="AddisFortune_shelter_homeless" />
==Creation== The creation of Yikono was triggered by a November 2019 town hall meeting in Addi Daero in which a woman spoke to the audience about a rape by a policeman 14 years earlier. Two other women claimed at the same meeting that the policeman had had sex with them, promising to marry them. A protest march to support the victims of violence against women was held in Addi Daero, stimulating social debate through Tigray Region. Mekelle youths organised a similar march in Mekelle, the capital of Tigray Region, calling for government and NGO actions to prevent violence against women. An online social media campaign together with the march evolved into Yikono, meaning ''enough'' in Tigrinya.<ref name="AfricanFeminism_Yikono_profile" />
==Leadership== Co-founders of Yikono include Weyni Abraha, Tsidena Abadi and Helen Tedros.<ref name="AddisFortune_shelter_homeless" /><ref name="UNwomenUSA_call_for_peace" /> Yikono participants include both women and men.<ref name="AfricanFeminism_Yikono_profile" />
==Aims== Yikono aims at gender equality by creating awareness of violence against women and by helping women at risk to re-establish their lives and become financially independent.<ref name="UNwomenUSA_call_for_peace" />
==Methods== Yikono campaigning is mostly carried out in Tigrinya, the main language spoken in Tigray Region and a major language of Eritrea, discussing sexual harassment and sexual violence issues in the context of the local culture.<ref name="AfricanFeminism_Yikono_profile" />
==Actions and analyses== During the COVID-19 pandemic in Ethiopia, Yikono helped to establish emergency shelters for vulnerable women.<ref name="UNwomenUSA_call_for_peace" /> One shelter, for up to 50 women and children, was set up on 27 April 2020 by Yikono in cooperation with Mekelle University, the Tigray branch of Organisation for Social Services, Health & Development (OSSHD) and ''Midre'Genet Elderly Care Centre''. As of 9 May, thirteen women and eight children were staying at the shelter. The women were commercial sex workers, cleaners and cooks working in bars and hotels who were unable to pay their rent due to a state of emergency in Tigray Region that banned bars and night clubs.<ref name="AddisFortune_shelter_homeless" />
In February 2021 during the Tigray War, Weyni Abraha of Yikono was interviewed by ''BBC News'' on sexual violence in the Tigray War, which she argued was being used as a weapon of war.<ref name="BBC_lost_hand" /> She stated, {{blockquote|text=Many women were raped in Mekelle. This is being done purposely to break the morale of the people, threaten them and make them give up the fight.|author=Weyni Abraha|source=February 2021, on ''BBC News''<ref name="BBC_lost_hand" />}}
==References== <references>
<ref name="UNwomenUSA_call_for_peace">{{cite web | title= A Call For Peace: Helping Ethiopian, Tigray Refugee Women & Girls in Crisis | website= UN Women USA | year = 2020 | url = https://unwomenusa.org/greaterla/upcoming_events | access-date = 2021-02-21 |archive-url= https://archive.today/20210221170744/https://unwomenusa.org/greaterla/upcoming_events |archive-date= 2021-02-21 |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="BBC_lost_hand">{{cite news | title= Ethiopia's Tigray crisis: 'I lost my hand when a soldier tried to rape me' | date= 2021-02-15 |newspaper= BBC News | url= https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55832711 |access-date=2021-02-15 |archive-url= https://archive.today/20210216014527/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55832711 |archive-date= 2021-02-16 |url-status=live}}</ref>
<ref name="AddisFortune_shelter_homeless">{{cite news | last1= Gebreamlak | first1= Hagos | title= Temporary shelter for homeless opens in Meqelle | date= 2020-05-09 |newspaper= Addis Fortune | url= https://addisfortune.news/temporary-shelter-for-homeless-opens-in-meqelle |access-date=2021-02-21 |archive-url= https://archive.today/20210221171601/https://addisfortune.news/temporary-shelter-for-homeless-opens-in-meqelle/ |archive-date= 2021-02-21 |url-status=live}}</ref>
<ref name="AfricanFeminism_Yikono_profile">{{cite web | last1 = Berehe | first1 = Mehret | title = #Yikono Campaign Gives Ethiopian Women The Language to Challenge Violence | website = African Feminism | date = 2020-03-05 | url = https://africanfeminism.com/yikono-campaign-gives-ethiopian-women-the-language-to-challenge-violence | access-date = 2021-02-21 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210216180217/https://africanfeminism.com/yikono-campaign-gives-ethiopian-women-the-language-to-challenge-violence | archive-date = 2021-02-16 | url-status = dead }}</ref>
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</references> {{Tigray conflict}} Category:Feminist organisations in Ethiopia Category:Tigray Region