Abstract:

The various historians and scholars of the classical and contemporary cultures attest that the Oromo Gada system is one of the indigenous democratic governances. Thus, women’s rightsenshrinedin the Gadaa System, the practice of women’s rights in the Gadaa System, and the protection of women’srightsin the Gadaa System are among the important aspects of the Oromo Gada System. However, this aspect of the Gujii Oromo Gada system has been overlookedand received less  research  attention. Therefore,this  article,aimsat  analyzing  the  situation  of  women’s  rightsenshrined  in  the indigenous Gada system of the Guji Oromo of Southern Ethiopia. The informants witnessed that within the Guji Oromo Gada system lies” woliigalaseera uwwaa” which literally means“agreed upon the lawsof the Gujii women and girls’’ intended for protecting the Gujii women and girls from any form of abuseand violence. These customary laws have been translated into practices and people abided by them in the dailycourse of lifeof the Gujii community. Contemporaryactivitiesand practitioners of women’srightsenshrined and gender empowerment undermined torecognize such valuable traditional rightsof Gujii Oromo women.Thepaper recommends that the women’s right enshrined in the Guji Oromo Gada system is viable and needs to be recognized and encouraged. Thereforeto concluded that, the modern efforts  of  promoting  and  protecting  the  women’s rightsenshrinedare, should have reconsider to creating  space  for harmonizing useful indigenous women’s rightsenshrined in the Gada system of Guji Oromo,Southern Ethiopia.