Women in Yemen have historically been placed at a disadvantage due to their sex, with a highly patriarchal society.
Although the government of Yemen has made efforts that will improve the rights of women in Yemen (including the formation of a Women’s Development Strategy and a Women Health Development Strategy), many cultural and religious norms, along with poor enforcement of this legislation from the Yemeni government have prevented Yemeni women from having equal rights with men.
Men and women do not have the same rights for education in Yemen. The country is still a long way from achieving gender equality.
History shows that women have played major roles in Yemeni society. Some women of pre-Islamic and early Islamic Yemen held elite status in society. The Queen of Sheba, for example, “is a source of pride for the Yemeni nation”
Below are 10 things Nigerian women should know about women in Yemen:
1. According to a survey done by UNICEF in 2013, girls are 50% less likely to enroll in school compared to boys, and they are also less likely to complete basic secondary and post-secondary education.
2. Human Rights Watch has documented that forced child marriage is a leading factor as to why girls drop out of school. In the Demographic and Health Survey of 2013, it was discovered that only 6% of women had continued their education post-secondary school, while a survey done by UNICEF found that 71% of schools do not have female teachers. Due to the high percentage drop-out, women have lower literacy rate than men. According to the 2013 Global Gender Gap, only 49% of women in Yemen are literate, in contrast to 82% of men being literate.
3. While women have the legal rights to ownership and use of property, many women in Yemen give administrative rights to male members of their family because they are not aware of their rights.
4. While Yemeni women are not prohibited to work, there are other barriers that make it difficult for them to seek employment. Firstly, women lack in education. Secondly, the Personal Status Law does not allow a woman to leave the house, unless with permission from her husband, and thirdly, culturally, Yemeni women are expected to stay home and take care of the children, so that denies them access to employment opportunities.
5. While Article 40 and 41 of the 1990 unification constitution of Yemen stipulates that all citizens are considered equal before the law and that “Every citizen has the right to participate in the political, economic, social and cultural life of the country” gender discrimination is prevalent in Yemen.
6. Many of the discriminatory policies restrict familial rights of women. Women in Yemen cannot marry a non-Yemeni without approval from both her family and the state. Under the Nationality Law of 1990, Yemeni women cannot pass their citizenship onto their children unless the woman divorces her husband, her husband is found to be insane or her husband dies, in which case the children can gain citizenship when they turn 19. The children of Yemeni men married to foreigners, on the other hand, are ensured Yemeni citizenship.
7. Divorce and even testimony of women is not equal to that of Yemeni men. Yemeni men have the right to divorce their wives at any time without justification, a woman on the other hand must go through a process of litigation in which they justify their reason for nullifying the marriage contract.
8. Before the court, a woman is considered only half a person, that is it takes “the testimony of two women” to equal “the testimony of one man.” women are prohibited from testifying in cases of adultery, slander, theft or sodomy by Article 45 (21) of the 1992 Evidence Law.
9. There are a number of forms of violence that women in Yemen are exposed to, and these include: physical and psychological abuse from family members, forced marriage, sexual harassment, forced pregnancy, rape, polygamy, health services deprivation and female genital mutilation and cutting.
10. Within Yemeni society, there is a strong preference for male children, as well as a high tolerance of violent behaviour towards females. Female children are often disciplined and punished, if they challenge this behaviour, and attempt to defend themselves. These practices do not only take place inside the homes, but also in schools, social institutes and workplaces. National and local media in fact, often encourage and reinforce the tendency for such discriminating acts and behaviour.
11. The most vulnerable group of women exposed to violence in Yemen is marginalized, poor and rural women. While conditions of poverty tend to intensify forms of incidences of violence against women, rural women are also forced to carry out most agricultural work and physical labour.
12. The international community has recognized that violence against women is a violation of women’s human rights, their bodily integrity and their sexual and reproductive rights. It is also acknowledged that promotion of women’s rights is a means to ensure sustainable development.
13. Women in Yemen have always had limited participation in society as men are considered the primary decision makers both inside and outside the household. Thus, women have always been grossly underrepresented in Yemeni politics.
14. Despite the achievements made in 2014 by the NDC, women’s political participation has been suspended as a result of the current ongoing conflict. Amat al-Aleem al-Asbahi, a Taiz female literacy activist, was assassinated on 25 December 2016.
15. Yemeni women’s rights activist Tawakul Karma, founder and chair of Women Journalists Without Chains (WJWC), was one of three recipients of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize.
16. Yemen is a society with cultural attitude, women have a low status in the family, as well as in the community. A man is allowed to marry up to four wives as long as he has the financial means, however a woman is not even entitled to enter marriage under her own free will, as she needs the approval and agreement of a male guardian.
17. In case of divorce, children can be removed from the mother’s care, while the father does not face such risks of losing his children. A woman is also not allowed to deny visitation rights for the father, while the father is allowed to do so under Article 145 of the Personal Status Act.
18. Health and reproductive rights are also major issues for Yemeni women. No legislation protects their freedom to make their own decisions with regards to these issues and thus women are controlled by their family or, if married, by their husbands.
19. Child marriage is a problem with a report of 52% of Yemeni girls getting married before the age of 18, including 14% before the age of 15. With the recent conflict, this trend has reportedly increased. Many families have used it as a coping mechanism during the ongoing crisis, and as a way of accessing dowry payments.
20. In the World Economic Forum’s 2014 Gender Gap Report, out of the 142 countries included in the report, Yemen ranked last, and has continued to do so since 2007.