GBV in Yemen - Sharing Our Sorrow

According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP, 2013), Yemen has the highest rates of gender inequality in the world. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)’s Gender Inequality Index, which measures inequalities based on reproductive health, empowerment, and economic participation, revealed that Yemen had the lowest recorded score in the world in terms of gender equality (UNDP, 2013). According to the World Health Organization (WHO, 2017), both gender inequality and social norms, which tolerate and accept violence, are the leading causes of violence against women (VAW). In addition, the UNFPA’s (2016) report shows that 90 percent of Yemeni women reported suffering from violence in their homes as well as sexual harassment on the streets. Furthermore, a United Nations (UN, 2010) report on VAW shows that Yemeni women experience various forms of physical and psychological violence within and outside of their family circles, including child forced marriages and deprivation of education. Recent estimates show that the number of girls forced into marriage younger than the age of 18 is higher than 50 percent and married women suffer great inequality in their rights in divorce, child custody, and inheritance (Khan, Eshaq, Al-Khateeb, & AlAmodi, 2014; UNFPA, 2016). In addition, approximately 70 percent of Yemeni women were circumcised in the year 2000 (Almosaed, 2004). Moreover, forty-Seven percent of women reported being abused by a male family member, however, only 3.4 percent of these cases were reported to authorities (]Almosaed, 2004).

The beginning of the armed conflict in Yemen in March 2015 came with disastrous consequences for the country as a whole and has significantly worsened the situation for women and girls (UNFPA, 2016). According to UNFPA (2016), there has been a significant increase in the rates of GBV and child marriages in Yemen, and very little hope for justice for those who encountered physical, psychological, and /or sexual abuse. Furthermore, multiple reports show that since the beginning of the conflict, possible avenues for women’s empowerment have been clearly absent (Shrivastava, Shrivastava, & Ramasamy, 2017; WHO, 2015; Khan et al., 2014). In addition, a paper presented by Baobeed (1997) in the regional meeting for the prevention of honor crimes shows that the estimated number of crimes of violence against Yemeni women was approximately 5.5 percent for each 100,00 women. Moreover, the same paper reveals that VAW in Yemen comes predominantly in the form of direct and indirect killing and is most prevalent in rural and mountain areas (Baobeed, 1997). Baobeed (1997) also points out that violent crimes against Yemeni women reached 46.4 percent in the year of 1996 and 43 percent in 1997.

Yemeni women are also subject to kidnapping crimes. In 1997, 68 percent of kidnapping cases recorded were against women (Baobeed, 1997). Suicide, physical violence, as well as rape are more dominant in coastal areas and 41 percent of suicides cases recorded were of women and the highest rates of these cases were among married women (Baobeed, 1997). Furthermore, the most recent Human Rights Watch Report (2016) references findings of a 2002 study which reveals that 74 percent of women in Yemen reported domestic abuse by their husbands at some point in their marriage and 28 percent of women were ordered to remain at home by their spouses. Yemeni married women are also subject to physical violence by their partners to varying degrees. Research indicates that 59 percent of women in rural areas as well as 71 percent of women in urban areas reported being physically abused by their husbands as a result of family problems (Human Rights Watch, 2016). Research also shows that Yemeni women are subject to institutional violence as a result of discriminatory laws and legal system (Badahdah, 2016; Cameron, 2017). Putting women last is a common social norm in Yemen (Cameron, 2017). 

Research shows that the low and inferior social status of women in a society leads to social, health and economic problems and also places major constraints on women’s access to health services (Skolnik, 2016). Married women also face institutional violence as a result of prejudiced laws and legal system (Badahdah, 2016; Cameron, 2017). Yemeni girls who are under the age of 18 are at risk of being forced into marriage, particularly because of the poor economic condition of the country (Shrivastava, Shrivastava, & Ramasamy, 2017). About 32 percent of Yemeni women between the ages of 20-24 get married younger than the age of 18, and 24 percent of those women give birth before the age of 18, which leads to high maternal and child mortality rates (UN, 2010). According to the World Bank (2014), the maternal mortality rate in Yemen is 270 deaths per 100,000 live births, and a total of six daily deaths occur among Yemeni women due to pregnancy-related issues. 

Due to the high rates of GBV in Yemen, the UNFPA Humanitarian Response Plan is appealing for 44.5 million dollars towards reproductive health and GBV services (UNFPA, 2018). Yemen is in a crisis of consciousness that has put the health and safety of women and girls to the brink of disaster. If left not addressed, GBV will lead to crippling the future generations of women, girls, families, as well as the nation as a whole.

References

Almosaed, N. (2004). Violence against women: a cross‐cultural perspective. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 24(1), 67-88.

Badahdah, Adballah M. (2016). Attitudes toward Restricting the Sexual and Reproductive Rights of Women Living with HIV Infection in Yemen. Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, Vol. 27, No. 2 (March-April), pp. 180-187.

Cameron, J. (2017). Women in Nepal and Yemen: Second-Class Citizens. Global Majority E-Journal, 49.

Khan, T. A., Eshaq, A. M., Al-Khateeb, A. A., & AlAmodi, A. A. (2014). Women's health and empowerment in Yemen. The Lancet, 383(9935), 2121.

Shrivastava, S., Shrivastava, P., & Ramasamy, J. (2017). Legal protection for women in Yemen: A sorry state. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Public Health, 10(3). 

Skolnik, R. (2016) Global Health 101, 3rd Ed., Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning. ISBN 9781284050547

United Nations Development Programme. (2013). The rise of the South: Human progress in a diverse world. Retrieved from http://hdr.undp.org/en/2013-report

United Nations [UN] (2010). Country assessment on violence against women: Yemen. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/womenwatch/ianwge/taskforces/vaw/Country_Assessment_on_Violence_against_ Women_August_2_2010.pdf

United Nation Population Fund [UNFPA] (2018). State of Kuwait helps to assist vulnerable women and girls in Yemen. Retrieved from https://yemen.unfpa.org/en/news/state-kuwait-helps-assist-vulnerable-women-and-girls-yemen

UNFPA. Fighting for justice for women amidst conflict in Yemen. (2016). Available from: http://www.unfpa.org/news/ ghting-justice-women- amidst-conflict-yemen. [Last accessed on 2016 July 19].

World Bank. (2014). Yemen Republic. Retrieved from http://data.worldbank.org/country/yemen-republic

World Health Organization. (2017). Retrieved from: http://www.who.int/inf-fs/en/fact239.html