Ashenafi had just established the Women Lawyer's Association two years earlier to fight for the rights of women according to Ethiopia's then-new constitution.
Ashenafi alikuwa ndio kwanza ameanzisha Umoja wa Wanasheria Wanawake miaka miwili iliyopita kwa lengo la kupigania haki za wanawake kwa mujibu wa katiba mpya ya Ethiopia.