Violence against women and children in Ethiopia takes different forms and varies by region (Stavropoulou and Gupta-Archer, 2017). While on the decline, widespread practices such as early marriage and female genital mutilation/cutting continue to have a negative impact on the lives of adolescent girls in Ethiopia. Domestic violence, exacerbated by social norms that allow for widespread acceptance of intimate partner violence, is another major challenge. Forced labour and trafficking of girls, internally from rural to urban centres and cross-border to countries in the Middle East, is also becoming a major issue (Jones et al., 2017).

To understand the policy context for adolescent health, psychosocial well-being and bodily integrity, we reviewed the strategic plan for an integrated and multisectoral response to violence against women and children and child justice in Ethiopia developed in 2010. This note provides a brief summary of our findings.