Attacks, harassment and imposition of fines.. The Houthis strangle Yemeni women from the Muharram Gate
English - Saturday 18 February 2023 الساعة 02:31 pm
Sana'a, NewsYemen, exclusive:
Citizens on the public street near the tourist city in the Sawan area of Sana’a, which is under the control of Iran’s arm militia in Yemen, were surprised when four women got out of a jeep and headed towards a car driven by one of the women and proceeded to beat her, her mother and her children, in great shock to those present.
This is what happened to human rights activist Arwad Abdul Karim Qasim Al-Khatib, at the hands of a number of women called "Zainabiyyat", which are armed women's militias affiliated with the Houthis, which were created in order to practice violations against women in Sana'a and the areas under their control.
According to what the activist reported, in her statement posted on her Facebook page: that she was driving her car with her mother and children on a street in Sana'a, before her car was intercepted by a gang of women who were riding in a black jeep. She confirmed that four women assaulted her. And her mother was beaten, physically assaulted, and insulted in a barbaric manner, before giving permission to flee.” She explained that she went directly to the Al-Wahda Police Station in Sa’awan and did not receive any response from the department’s management, which dismissed her without registering the case.
The sources said that the Houthi militia has recently formed women's teams from the "Zainabiyyat" battalion. Assigning them the task of terrorizing women roaming in Sana'a and inside government facilities or female travelers under the pretext of not having a Mahram, noting that these militias roam in cars belonging to the Houthi Preventive Security, which is directly linked to the militia leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi.
Checkpoints to pursue women
What happened to activist Arwad Al-Khatib is not different or far from what happens to many women in Sana'a who try to move between governorates or travel abroad or even within government facilities. A campaign of severe restrictions and restrictions imposed by the Houthi militia on women under the pretext of "imposing the forbidden" and thwarting the "soft war" to which they are subjected by "Israel, America and the countries of aggression" and other justifications.
One of the women, "S.A. Al-Jifri", was on her way with her mother to leave Sana'a. Al-Jifri was surprised by a checkpoint in the "Asr" area, near Al-Sabaha camp, which removed them and a number of women from the bus and prevented them from traveling without a Mahram.
"Al-Jifri" says: When we arrived at the point, the women and families were searched and harassed under the pretext of making sure that there was a Mahram, while a number of women were dropped off at the point and forced to return from the point after being searched in a humiliating manner by the Houthi elements, despite some highlighting assurances that they are not from Sana'a and that their families are in other governorates, and some of them arrived in Sana'a for treatment.
Point Asr is one of a series of checkpoints at the entrances and exits of Sana'a, which were recently created by an unannounced Houthi decision with the aim of imposing what it calls "the forbidden" on the various affairs of women, whether in their daily movements, or their travel between the governorates, or in the direction abroad. It was not limited to movement and travel, but rather restrictions and terrorism reached to prevent working in several professions except with a forbidden, in addition to specifying clothes, segregation inside universities and schools, and being in the markets.
Sources said that the Houthi militia has recently created internal checkpoints in Al-Jarf and Asr, near the Al-Sabaha camp, west of Sana'a, and Naqil Yaslah, to search women and prevent them from traveling except with a forbidden person, whether through Sana'a airport or through land ports and moving from one governorate to another.
Sana'a women announce the rejection
The harassment and violations women are subjected to in Houthi-controlled areas prompted a number of prominent women leaders in Sana'a to raise their voice and send a message to the head of the Houthi coup government led by Abdulaziz bin Habtoor in an attempt to communicate the harassment and arbitrary Houthi measures that women are subjected to.
The letter presented the true picture that the Houthi militia is trying to hide of the violations and restrictions women are subjected to, especially after the decisions to impose the Muharram, restrict travel and movement, prevent field work and other restrictions imposed by the Houthis under the pretext of confronting the soft war.
The message of the women leaders, who are employees in governmental and private sectors in Sana’a, focused on rejecting the Houthi circulars regarding restricting and obstructing the movement of women under the pretext of requesting forbidden things or administrative procedures, as well as the process of dismissing female employees and employees in some institutions and ministries under the pretext of preventing mixing and soft war, which gave an opportunity to many To exclude and exclude women from work, although the public interest of work requires the presence of everyone in offices, meetings and committees, and women are the most observant of morals and social norms.
The letter indicated that there is a Houthi tendency to abolish women's sectors in some ministries under the pretext of reducing structuring and job inflation, which, according to the message of women leaders, will set the country back years, at a time when we need to exploit all energies for development, construction and the advancement of public responsibility.
The letter referred to the Houthi militia's exploitation of mosque platforms and Friday sermons to focus on incitement against Yemeni women and intimidate families and warn them against studying at university or joining work.
Obstruction of humanitarian action
In turn, the United States Agency for Development confirmed that women and girls in Yemen face additional challenges due to the significant restrictions on their movement, with the Houthi putschists imposing the Muharram requirement (obligating women to travel with a male relative) in the areas they control, which exacerbated the pre-existing inequalities in the country. their access to services and livelihoods.
In a report by the agency on the humanitarian situation in Yemen, it stated that the humanitarian response plan for this year aims to reach 17.3 million people with humanitarian assistance; To provide life-saving assistance to those who make up nearly 80 per cent of the 21.6 million people identified by the United Nations as in need of humanitarian assistance, with vulnerable populations facing significant nutritional and health needs.
According to the agency, over the past year, access restrictions have constituted the most significant impediment to the effective delivery of humanitarian assistance across the country; Aid actors reported more than 3,500 humanitarian access incidents, including bureaucratic impediments, movement restrictions and security incidents, that impeded the delivery of life-saving assistance to approximately 10.1 million people in need across Yemen during 2022.
International message and condemnation
Human rights assurances indicated that United Nations experts have recently addressed the leaders of the Houthi militia, in a final message, of the need to end restrictions on women and girls in Yemen, noting that the militia has increased its restrictions on women's freedoms since its control of Sana'a in 2014.
This message came after obstructing the movement and movements of a number of workers and employees of international organizations inside Sana'a and other governorates, and restricting their exit operations, which affected the progress of many humanitarian and relief projects implemented in Yemen.
The letter was sent by the United Nations Panel on Discrimination against Women and Girls, namely, “Dorothy Estrada Tank, Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Discrimination against Women and Girls, Mr. Alexandra Xanthanky-Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, and Ms. Farida Shaheed-Special Rapporteur on the right to Education, Tlaling Mofokeng - Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Ms. Nazila Ghani - Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, and Reem Asalim - Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences.
The letter, addressed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the coup government, specifically to the Houthi leader Hisham Sharaf, enumerated many violations that were monitored against women in militia-controlled areas during the last period.
The lengthy UN letter indicated that the UN team had received information about the grave harm caused to civilians by the Houthi movement, particularly with regard to systematic violations of the rights of women and girls in the context of the armed conflict, including the restriction of women's travel without a guardian (mahram), and the denial of access to care. Reproductive health, work bans, gender segregation in public spaces, and the promotion of discriminatory attitudes against women.
The letter emphasized that the Houthis have seriously restricted the rights of women and girls in the areas under their control, which are home to nearly 70 percent of Yemen's population. The Houthis routinely search and interrogate women traveling alone, although Yemeni law does not require women to travel with a family member or guardian (mahram). And that women were threatened with abusive language and imprisoned in the Security and Intelligence Service if they left Sana'a without a Mahram.
Rather, the matter reached the point of imposing penalties, as in September 2021, in the Ghadran area in the Bani Hashish district in Sana’a, where women in the district were prevented from using means of transportation without a mahram, and it was forbidden for women in the region to own mobile phones, and a fine of “200,000” riyals was imposed and a cow paid by her guardian In the event of a violation, the use of cosmetics by women and work in relief organizations is prohibited. Violation of the generalization leads to disavowal and leads to liquidation and killing.
