225 However, there are still women rights’ abuses: violence against women, female genital mutilation, abductions, domestic violence, and rape. Campaigns by both government and NGOs are being carried out against these abuses but there is a dearth of resources to fight these vices. 226 Various measures have also been put in place to encourage women to play an active role in society. As a result, the number of women in both regional councils and national parliament has increased over time. When the EPRDF came into power, women won 13 seats (2.75 percent) under the EPRDF ticket in the 1995 general elections. During the 2000 elections, the ruling party made further efforts to increase women’s participation to 42 seats (14 percent) of the total seats. Women’s representation in parliament rose again in the 2005 elections when close to 22 percent of the seats were won by women. Women won 152 seats (27.7 percent) in the 2010 elections. Three women now chair parliamentary committees while two other women are deputies of these committees, though this is still inadequate. Women parliamentarians do not seem to have achieved much in terms of influencing decisions in general, as well as pushing for a women’s agenda. This may be attributable to a lack of capacity and the structural problems women face. II. Findings of the CRM 227 The CRM confirmed that Ethiopia ratified international Instruments such as the International Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Convention of the Political Rights of Women, and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights. However, it has not ratified the Optional Protocol to the International Convention on Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, nor the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa. The Ethiopian Constitution (Article 35) does provide equal rights and protection to women and men. Women have equal rights in marriage, the right to maternity leave with full pay, as well as a right to full consultations over national development policy formulation, project design and execution, particularly where projects affect women. Under the same (article 35), the State is obliged to enforce the rights of women to eliminate the influences of harmful customs. Laws, customs and practices that oppress or cause bodily harm to women are prohibited. Harmful Traditional Practices (HTPs) - Female Genital Mutilation, abduction, and rape - have been explicitly criminalised by law. All persons are equal before the law and entitled to equal protection by the law.  Women are entitled to affirmative measures to eliminate the historical legacy of inequality against women. - 107 -