{"id":29113,"date":"2026-03-18T14:18:54","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T12:18:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=29113"},"modified":"2026-03-18T14:18:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T12:18:54","slug":"ethiopias-former-president-warns-attack-on-womens-rights-threatens-democracy","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/ethiopias-former-president-warns-attack-on-womens-rights-threatens-democracy\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethiopia\u2019s Former President warns attack on women\u2019s rights threatens democracy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Former Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde has said that any assault on women\u2019s rights is, ultimately, an attack on democracy itself. Speaking at the Forbes Woman Africa Leading Women Summit 2026 in Johannesburg, South Africa, Zewde highlighted how some global leaders use traditional values to justify restricting women\u2019s freedoms.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLeaders cloak their power grabs in the language of tradition,\u201d Zewde said. \u201cThey tell women that our primary role is in the home, not in positions of power. They pass laws that limit our autonomy over health and future choices. In some countries, girls are barred from education and systematically excluded from professional life from childhood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The summit, one of Africa\u2019s most prestigious gatherings celebrating women shaping the continent\u2019s future, brought together leaders, entrepreneurs, and decision-makers for a day of bold conversations.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;ChannelAfrica&#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":29114,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[78,26],"class_list":["post-29113","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Former Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde has said that any assault on women\u2019s rights is, ultimately, an attack on democracy itself","published_date":"2026-03-18 14:00:58","news_description":"Former Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde has said that any assault on women\u2019s rights is, ultimately, an attack on democracy itself","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/29113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/29113\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29115,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/29113\/revisions\/29115"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=29113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}