But it also reflects resilience. Ethiopian girls are not passive subjects. They are directors, scriptwriters, rappers, coders, and activists. They are learning to use the tools of popular media against the grain — to expose what is hidden, to speak what is silenced, and to perform not for the male gaze, but for each other.
This voyeuristic treatment turns real suffering into entertainment. Many girls report feeling retraumatized by media appearances, where hosts pressure them to "cry on cue" for ratings. But it also reflects resilience
But there are exceptions. launched a youth program, "Lela" ( Different ), which features girls teaching media literacy and consent. Similarly, Qene Games , a local video game studio, hired a team of teenage girls to co-design a mobile game about surviving street harassment — part game, part psychological first aid. 7. Legal Protections and Advocacy: What Needs to Change As of 2025, Ethiopia has no specific regulations governing "hard" or adult-oriented content created by or featuring minors. The draft Digital Media Proclamation (circulated in 2023) includes provisions on age verification and content moderation, but it has stalled in parliament due to fears of censorship. They are learning to use the tools of
That is "hard entertainment" in the truest sense — not gratuitous, but grueling for both performer and audience. But there are exceptions
More controversially, , 21, produced a series of "hard ASMR" videos — not whispers, but recordings of her screaming, breaking glass, and reciting police interrogation transcripts from arrested female protesters. These audio pieces, distributed on Spotify and Telegram, have been called "torture porn" by critics and "necessary testimony" by supporters.
Talk shows invite 17-year-old content creators to reenact their traumatic videos live, pausing to ask, "How did you feel when you were beaten?" Then, after the commercial break, they pivot to cooking segments.