The women smashing Ethiopia's glass ceiling

Ethiopia is changing rapidly under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, with women now wielding enormous power in a country where they have mostly been confined to traditional roles, writes BBC Tigrinya's Hana Zeratsyon.

Ethiopians like to say they were ruled by Queen Sheba in biblical times - something they take great pride in, yet the reality is that the Horn of Africa state is a deeply male-dominated society.

As gender and law consultant Hilina Birhanu puts it: "Patriarchy is our society's mother tongue. We learn from early to look down on women."

This is borne out by some of the often-heard proverbs in languages spoken by Ethiopians, including "a house built by a woman does not have a base", "a woman's country is her husband and her livelihood is her character" and "as a soul is in its creator, a woman is in her master".

Women, who make up about half the population of 102.5 million, are largely confined to traditional roles, especially in rural areas where they spend much of their time at home, looking after their children, fetching wood and water from rivers, and weeding and transporting cereals.