Siinqee: Women’s Customary Law in Oromia

Siinqee is a stick (Ulee) symbolizing a socially sanctioned set of rights exercised by women. The
Siinqee is a special stick, which a woman who gets legally married will receive on her wedding
day. My informant describes the Siinqee as ‘a woman’s weapon’, symbolizing the respect and the
power that a married woman has. The Siinqee stick is given to a woman in order to protect her
rights. My informant explained that: ‘if a woman has a Siinqee she has to be respected, nobody
should fight with her’. Here, it is very important to note that Siinqee is applicable to women who
have been married in accordance with the Gadaa system. If the marriage is concluded outside the
rules and regulations of Siinqee, like in the cases of marriage by force (butta), the woman does not
enjoy the protection accorded by Siinqee. On the other hand, if a woman is married based on
Siinqee, like in the case of kadhacha (marriage based on agreement between two families), she has
full rights to enjoy her privileges under Siinqee.

The word Siinqee is thus often used to describe various mobilizations conducted by women. As
Kumsa states, when there were violations of their rights, women left their homes, children, and
resources, and travelled to a place where there was a big tree called Qilxxu and assembled there
until the problems were solved through negotiation by elder men and women. According to
Kumsa, married women have the right to organize and form the Siinqee sisterhood and solidarity.

Kelly explains this more and states that:

A man who violated women’s individual and collective rights could be corrected through
reconciliation and pledging not to repeat the mistakes or through women’s reprisal ritual. A group
of women ambush the offender in the bush or on the road, bind him, insult him verbally using
obscene language that they would not normally utter in the direct presence of an adult male …
pinch him, and whip him with leafy branches or knotted strips of cloth. In extreme cases, they may
force him to crawl over thorny or rocky ground while they whip him . . . they demand livestock
sacrifice as the price to cease their attack. If he refuses, they may tie him to a tree in the bush and
seize one of his animals themselves. Other men rarely intervene.