Military camp in Neblet, Tigray, Ethiopia. 7 April 2024.
Female soldiers cheer for the strength of the Tigray people. Marhawit (21), in the center of the photo, is the leader of the group of female soldiers, urging them to feel strength and self-confidence in their mission to liberate the Tigrinya people. Leaders play a very important role not so much in military training, but in emotionally supporting their fellow soldiers.
Many of them are minors who enlisted because they felt safer in the army than in their villages, which were devastated by Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Amhara militia soldiers. The number of minors in the Tigray army is high, as it was mainly the girls at greater risk of sexual violence and without children to care for who chose to fight.
Marhawit says: “I am here for each one of them, at any time and for any need, because without one of them, I feel like I lose a part of myself and my dream of seeing a different future for each of us”.
The girls involved in the photo gave their consent for its publication after being informed about the purpose of the project in which it would be used.