Women textile workers in Ethiopia

Abstract

Women play an important role in the newly developed textile industry of Ethiopia. In the thirteen major establishments, more than 50 per cent of the textile workers are women. This, however, does not reflect the situation of the traditional sector, where the greater part of hand weavers and tailors are men, with women involved with the lower productivity activity of spinning the thread with the use of a simple spinning whorl. This paper aims to investigate the situation of women textile workers In Addis Ababa. The figures and reflections are facts and conclusions extracted from a study performed in April 1979. The study provides information on the economic and social conditions of these women as well as their attitudes towards work. It also reflects some of the problems they face.