“Societies that mistreat women are the poorest and most unstable in the world” – Barack Obama

BZ – Women in Development and Peace

The struggle for women’s rights in Yemen, and the injustice they face, is an age-old story, a relentless tide. But today, it has taken on a new, more brutal, and oppressive form. The denial of women’s rights and the disregard for their dignity have become more violent, and more forceful. The battle has shifted from the home and the workplace to the media, to the digital battlegrounds of social media. The arena has changed, the warriors against women have changed, and the weapons have become baser and more degrading.

Yemeni women have fought for their rights for a long time, since the revolutions of 26th September and 14th October, until this very day. Every right they have gained has come after immense suffering and tireless pleas. They thought they had overcome the hardest part. But the year 2011, and the subsequent wars and political conflicts, have thrown them back to square one.

We, Yemeni women, live in a country where the law and the constitution have, in a way, been just, but society has failed us. History has been kind, but customs and traditions have betrayed us. Most women around the world fight for equality in the law and their rights to be enshrined in the Constitution. But not us. Our country is among the pioneers in enacting laws that are fair to women, such as those concerning retirement, wages, and citizenship. So where is the flaw? The answer lies in two parts:

• First:The failure to implement these laws, the lack of firmness and strength in enforcing what has been agreed upon.
• Second:The customs and traditions that have been protected by those who benefit from keeping women in a cage of servitude.

We live in a society brimming with authenticity, compassion, and chivalry, except when it comes to women. Then we revert to the Stone Age. The Yemeni man places a stone in his skull, carries it in his hand, and stands before women, speaking a language no one understands.

Let us not delve into linguistics and metaphors. Let me, a Yemeni woman, tell you about a historical precedent that has occurred only in our authentic country, the country that is the origin of the Arabs, the values of tribes and chivalry, the land of great civilizations. It is the issue of defaming and publicly slandering Yemeni women on social media platforms, targeting social or political figures in the country, without fear of any consequence – moral, religious, tribal, or legal.

So, women are now victims twice over: victims of themselves and victims of being used as weapons to attack their enemies. Every day, on X or other media platforms, a journalist or political activist with personal interests (political, partisan, or working according to a specific agenda) tweets with helplessness and humiliation that their enemy, the so-and-so official in the government or in such-and-such an institution, is a corrupt and disreputable person. The proof is their immoral relationship with so-and-so woman, who might be their colleague, secretary, social activist… etc. Even in our war against our enemies, we’ve sunk to a low level. And so, the Yemeni woman is great even in her suffering, the ways she’s tortured, and her rights are taken away.

Here, at the peak of my sadness, I’m not talking about that official or leader in the government, but about this woman who the journalist or activist used as a means to attack their opponent. What happened to her? What happened to the weapon of attack?

I offer the answer from the bitter reality that some working women live, which the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Yemen reported in 2017 as “still the worst place for women in the world.” This is a bitter, tragic phrase, usually used in horror movies. The answer is that two things happened to this woman who was used as a means to attack opponents:

First: She shrinks back, retreats, and flees from the arena of work, success, and contributing to building her country to the worst corner of the house and hides there. There, she begins a new struggle with her family and society, being physically, psychologically, and morally flayed, facing contemptuous looks and bullying from her colleagues, and feeling the lack and loss of confidence that she had barely gained after years of hardship.

One of them told me, trying to explain the situation in her simple way, “I’ve gone back to a defensive position after being strong, facing, and attacking. I’ve gone back to a defensive and proving position.” I asked her what this defensive and proving position was. She said, “Defending means defending myself to my family every morning, saying, ‘Don’t believe them, I’m a decent person, I’m your daughter who you trusted and allowed working.’ As for the proving position, I try every day to prove to them that I’m innocent of what was fabricated against me and that I deserve their trust again. I try to prove that I’m not what the journalist and the polite political activist said.”

Second, and most importantly: is the injustice done to the woman (the tool) by the official or public figure who was attacked. This person’s fear for their reputation, their selfishness in the face-off, and their inability to defend this weak woman who is innocent except for the fact that she worked with them, is in itself a blatant violation of the working woman’s rights and one of the forms of violence against her.

The only solution he took was to completely avoid dealing with her, ignoring her, or transferring her to another department. This also includes depriving her of her legal right to promotion, to receive other job rights and benefits according to the law… etc. In simple, colloquial terms, “it shouldn’t be said that he gave her the promotion because of the illicit relationship between them.” He might deprive the woman who works under his management of her legal rights for fear that some rumors might affect his reputation.

This is the peak of injustice and denial of women’s rights, weakness, and lack of self-confidence as a leader. This puts us in front of an important question: How can this leader or official lead the institution he heads or support the citizens he serves or those under his management? How can he be trusted?

Democracy, integrity, transparency, and correcting mistakes don’t involve delving into symptoms or destroying your opponent by any means available to you as a political activist or journalist. Instead, you should rise to the occasion and face your opponent with the honor of yourself and the honor of your profession, without using the weak. You should know that the matter of honor and attacking reputations remains a point of weakness in a society like ours, where bad customs and traditions dominate over religion, homeland, peace, stability, and development. In our colloquial language, “People of good lineage, tribal members, and honorable people don’t stoop to this level in their methods of confronting opponents.” Be an honorable opponent, even in your war.

Therefore, what the journalist/writer/political activist did, and the reaction of the official/public figure, is a blatant violation of women’s rights and local, regional, and international legislation. It is violence against women that falls under the law of sexual and verbal harassment of women in the workplace, and the perpetrators should be prosecuted.

Some might say that our country doesn’t have a clear law called “violence against women” or “harassment law,” but I assure you that most Arab and international countries have this law and punish those who violate it internationally. They issue absentia judgments that can go as far as banning them from traveling or entering their territories or imposing financial compensation. What about when this journalist or activist is residing in one of these countries?

Workplace harassment is the psychological and moral killing of women. Destroying their potential makes them lose their focus at work, making them fearful and unable to express their rights and freedom. They find no solution except to leave their jobs and succumb to fear. As for the rumors that target women at work, they are an attempt to tarnish their reputations by people who are consumed by jealousy, feelings of inferiority, and self-incompetence. They exploit women’s weaknesses and their fear of their father/brother/husband/family, spreading false rumors, knowing that it is a quick and deadly weapon in societies that still revere customs and traditions. Sadly, they are killing half of society and the mothers of the other half.

The 2023/2024 Women, Peace, and Security Index, issued by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security, assessed the status of women in 177 countries. Yemen ranked second to last (176). The assessment was based on three dimensions: inclusion (economic, social, political), justice (formal and informal discrimination), and security (at the individual and societal levels).

Here we are in a country where women live under the weight of violence and oppression, subjected to physical, sexual, and psychological assaults, kidnapping, rape, and forced displacement. In a country where women live in unhealthy and inhumane conditions during peacetime, what will the situation be like during unrest?

Women’s rights are human rights. Societies that mistreat women are the poorest and least stable societies in the world. Our country is not far from this reality.