Women in Development and Peace – Afrah Borji
The situation of violence against women has become a serious threat in Yemeni society. This has led to the emergence of women’s institutions and initiatives that support women who have experienced social, psychological, and economic violence. These organizations work to highlight the phenomenon of violence against women, which has become alarmingly common in society, and collaborate with various relevant entities to address it.
In this regard, Amatallah Abdullah, the head of the “For Her” initiative, states: “Yemeni women play an active and influential role in mitigating the impact of violence. They have a deeper understanding of the consequences of violence perpetrated against them. Consequently, they effectively provide psychological support, family counseling, legal guidance, and engage with specialists in awareness campaigns, online advocacy, fieldwork, and sharing success stories of women.
Engineer Mohammed Qahran, the Executive Director of the “All Girls for Development” Foundation, states: “Women play a significant role in addressing the phenomenon of violence against them. Their responsibility lies in comprehensive awareness, whether at work, in public spaces, at home, or wherever women are present. Additionally, they have a greater role in understanding their responsibility to report any violence they encounter across all domains.”
The Executive Director further explains: “Our foundation has played a major role in addressing many cases of violence. We established a protection department within the organization to receive and address all cases of violence, contributing to resolving their issues
In the same context, Dalia Qasim, the Executive Director of the “Girls of Al Hodeidah” Foundation, emphasizes the critical role of women in addressing the phenomenon of violence against them. She stresses the importance of not tolerating any form of violence, no matter how minor, and advocates for raising awareness among women about their rights and understanding what constitutes violence against them. Dalia underscores the significance of not remaining silent in the face of any violent or harmful behavior.
Regarding the role of “Girls of Al Hodeidah” Foundation in addressing violence against women, Dalia Qasim states: “We strive to raise awareness about women’s rights and actively work against violence directed at them through various educational programs.”
In the same context, Mona Bashir, from the “Happy Family” Association, asserts: “Women are a tremendously significant and fundamental entity in society. Islam has honored them and granted them rights to be protected and respected. Women are capable of standing up against violence by educating themselves about religious and legal matters prescribed for them by Islam. They can make positive decisions in their lives and within their families.”
Mona Bashir further explains: “The role of civil society organizations and their women’s components lies in empowering women’s resilience in the peace process and raising community awareness about the harmful effects of violence, its various forms, and mitigating its occurrence. These risks impact individuals and families on a livelihood level, including family disintegration and the psychological consequences faced by survivors.”
Mawadda Qadar, Executive Director of Wogood Foundation for Human Security, says:” The foundation sought to focus on the issues of violence against women, through the implementation of many voluntary and funded activity projects. Some of them were implemented individually by the foundation, while others were conducted through collaborative work with local partners, including the Women’s Voices Coalition. Examples of this include celebrating the International Day and implementing the 16-day campaign to combat violence against women.”
Qadar adds: “The foundation has implemented a number of activities, including calling for a woman’s right to grant her nationality to her children, and participated in preparing the report of the Civil Alliance For Rights and Feminism (CARF) to follow up on the level of implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); as the foundation is a member of the Global Campaign for Equality in Nationality Rights, and participated in a special report with the campaign and submitted it to the United Nations Committee on the CEDAW Convention.”
Challenges
Amatallah Abdullah says: “There are many challenges facing initiatives and some institutions to play their role in addressing the phenomenon of violence against women. These challenges include lack of funding, issues with mediation and favoritism, as well as weak coordination between the relevant authorities. While women empowerment projects are being implemented and women are targeted in several projects, there are still more women experiencing violence who are excluded from these initiatives.”
As for Mona Bashir from Happy Family Association, she points out the most important challenges facing the issue of violence against women. These include girls’ education, child marriage, women’s culture, and their lack of knowledge of their rights stipulated by the Islamic religion. Additionally, there is a lack of awareness, the difficult economic situation that Yemeni society is going through, and finally, the complex customs, traditions, and norms that restrict women’s rights.
In the same context, Dalia Qassem mentions that one of the challenges is the community’s lack of acceptance of what women do in any field; as the community rejects women’s presence in institutions and women’s leadership, or in any programs related to raising women’s awareness, which constitutes an obstacle to the patriarchal society.
She adds: “When we were conducting a field visit in order to carry out the awareness campaign against the phenomenon of violence against women, we visited some of the affected women. However, we were unable to provide assistance to them due to the presence of their father, brother or husband, who refused to be informed and change what they had been accustomed to for decades. This constitutes a violation of the rights of women who need to know their rights and how to claim them. This issue caused a problem in our ability to influence and raise awareness.”
Treatments
In order to find solutions that contribute to alleviating the severity of violence against women and working to address this phenomenon, Amatallah Abdullah says: “It is necessary to create legislation that contributes to strengthening the protection of women and activating laws; especially Article 313 to protect women from electronic blackmail, and joint work in the process of promoting awareness and education, and supporting feminist initiatives working in the field, in addition to coordinating between women’s organizations and donors to provide support and protection for women.”
As for Dalia Qassem, she stresses the importance of intensifying awareness programs that contribute to raising community awareness, communicating with the relevant authorities that help in lifting violence against women, and finding alternative programs that help her more to rely on herself and enhance her important role in society.
“There are many interventions that can be undertaken to reduce violence against women,” said Mawada Qadar, “and some of the key actions that can be taken are to enact strong legislation that addresses violence against women and ensure that it is effectively implemented. Such legislation should include protection for women from all forms of violence, including domestic violence, rape, and violence in the workplace. There should also be effective mechanisms in place to provide justice and protection for women who have been affected.”
Furthermore, she emphasized the importance of raising awareness and educating the public about the issue of violence against women. This can be achieved through informative campaigns and educational programs in schools, universities, and communities. Providing more resources and services for women affected by violence is crucial.
This includes creating safe spaces, consultation centers, and accessible psychological and legal support, all of which should be neutral and free of charge. Promoting gender equality and challenging cultural norms that perpetuate violence against women is essential. Collaboration and partnership between governments, non-governmental organizations, civil society, and individuals are vital in the fight against violence against women. Implementing policies and offering support to affected women are key steps in addressing this critical issue.