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Women Activists in Taiz Condemn Militia Violations | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Yemeni women in Aden A.F.P


Yemeni women in Aden A.F.P

Yemeni women in Aden A.F.P

Aden- On the International Women’s Day, a group of women activists in Taiz issued a statement in which they condemned violations of Houthi militias and pro-Saleh supporters (Former President of Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh) against the women of Yemen since 2015.

The statement acquired by Asharq Al-Awsat said “the mass of women activists in Taiz are continuously registering the increasing incidents witnessed in Yemen, especially the governorate of Taiz, recording all the customary violations against women in Taiz, and the infringements perpetrated against the Muslim Sharia law, rules, creeds, and international treaties supporting women rights”.

The practices carried out by Houthi militias and pro-Saleh combatants against women in Taiz, including the tight siege, the random bombardments with different kinds of artillery and the absence of the bare necessities of life are the reason behind the figures mentioned in the issued statement.

Women of Taiz strongly denounced all the insurgency’s actions that desecrate international consensuses and treaties made on humanitarian and women rights.

Among the women’s demands was to recognize Taiz’s as a barricaded, afflicted city and to immediately implement humanitarian treaties dedicated for women. They have also appealed asking for all Houthi and pro-Saleh militias’ actions be incriminated, and for the international community to fulfill moral and humanitarian duties to stop what the women in Yemen are suffering.

The statement also included figures on the toll of violations against the women of Taiz. 105 women were reported killed by militias, 248 wounded, over 3230 women suffer psychological impairment (some of which registering cases of amnesia), more than 41 women experienced miscarriage, 44884 females of all ages were denied the right to education, at least 900 women were widowed, 83 divorced and, last but not least, 4893 women were uprooted. Also, militias broke into homes of women activists.

Disease spread due to people being displaced, and medical facilities being shut down, affecting the women of Taiz. Women repeatedly sent out a crying demand for initiatives on humanitarian treaties protecting women rights to be implemented in Yemen.

Women rights and political activists in Aden organized a demonstration, within a campaign called “Enough of Terrorism and Vainly Abusing Aden”, which headed for the presidential palace in Aden. The protest marched for the legitimate government’s headquarters, where the Vice President Khaled Bahah resides, in order to present him with a petition in the name of women in Aden.

Lawyer and rights activist A’fraa Hariri said that the petition women activists put forth included many of the city’s people denied rights, its uppermost demand being their protection from terrorism and armed terrorist groups.

Hariri, also stressed on the importance of women partaking in any established authority in all posts and in the decision-making process.

On the occasion of the International Women’s Day, Asharq Al-Awsat met with several women activists in Aden. The political and academic activist Walaa Farid bin Atef, said “southern women of Yemen are in a regrettable position, we clearly see a weakening in the role played by them and in the way the community perceives them.

“In the past, the southern lady held a significant and influential role before and after the British occupation. All I wish for, upon this occasion, is for the southern women to regain their glory and restore their well-deserved position soon.”

Sarah al –Subaihi, another activist told Asharq Al-Awsat that “we are created in a woman’s womb, we live in a woman’s womb, and are born from a woman’s womb” in reference to that women are wrongly marginalized despite their importance.