Yemen
Yemen: Women Burn Veils To Stop Crackdown On Protest
![Yemeni women burn their veils at a demonstration demanding Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh's resignation [AP/Hani Mohamed]](/files/images/Yemen_AP-20111026.thumbnail.jpg "Yemeni women burn their veils at a demonstration demanding Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh's resignation [AP/Hani Mohamed]")
SANAA, Yemen - Hundreds of Yemeni women on Wednesday set fire to traditional female veils to protest the government's brutal crackdown against the country's popular uprising, as overnight clashes in the capital and another city killed 25 people, officials said.
In the capital Sanaa, the women spread a black cloth across a main street and threw their full-body veils, known as makrama, onto a pile, sprayed it with oil and set it ablaze. As the flames rose, they chanted: "Who protects Yemeni women from the crimes of the thugs?"
Yemen: 'Tawakkul Karman as Cause and Effect'
Political activist Tawakkul Karman has brought Yemen’s revolution to New York, speaking directly on October 20 with Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and organizing rallies at the United Nations headquarters in lower Manhattan, the largest of which is slated for the afternoon of October 21. The purpose of her visit is to keep pressure on the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution that reflects the aspirations of the overwhelming numbers of Yemenis who have sustained peaceful calls for change for the nine long months since protests began in late January. Arriving newly anointed by the Nobel Committee, which named her as one of three recipients of the 2011 Peace Prize, Karman fears -- as does much of the Yemeni opposition, in its many forms -- that the UN will merely reiterate the approximate parameters of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) initiative put forth in April.
Yemen: Women Attacked During Peace Prize Celebrations
Dozens of women were reportedly injured in Yemen’s second-largest city on Sunday after government supporters attacked an anti-government rally celebrating Yemeni activist and winner .
According to reports, pro-government “thugs” threw stones at women who were taking part in a peaceful women’s march in the south-western city of Ta’izz.
“Yemeni authorities must protect the right to freedom of expression, which includes not tolerating violent attacks on peaceful marches,” said Malcolm Smart, Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Program.
Yemen: Women Toppling 'Tradition'
The leading participation of Yemeni women in their country’s revolt is raising hopes that regime change may bring along a mini revolution in the public and political role of women
Taiz — Yemeni women did not merely challenge the taboos surrounding their blackchadors, and break away from the isolation of their homes as they marched to the various liberation squares across the country. They may be precipitating a minor revolution against Yemen’s conservative customs and traditions.
Yemen: Shari'a Replacing State Law
Amid regular military bombardment, the Abyan governorate of southern Yemen has witnessed the rapid deterioration of state institutions and the rule of law. Local Islamic law (sharia) courts have risen in this vacuum to govern communities’ daily affairs.
Lahj - The situation in Abyan governorate is markedly different than in the rest of the country. While most governorates have witnessed weekly protests demanding the regime’s overthrow, Abyan is subject to regular Yemeni and American air and ground attacks against Islamist militants who control much of the area.
Yemen: Child brides, Too young to wed
Because the wedding was illegal and a secret, except to the invited guests, and because marriage rites in Rajasthan are often conducted late at night, it was well into the afternoon before the three girl brides in this dry farm settlement in the north of India began to prepare themselves for their sacred vows. They squatted side by side on the dirt, a crowd of village women holding sari cloth around them as a makeshift curtain, and poured soapy water from a metal pan over their heads.
Yemen's dark side: Discrimination against violence against women and girls
Women in Yemen face systemic dicsrimination and endemic violence, with devastating consequences for their lives. Their rights are routinely violated because Yemeni laws as well as tribal and customary practices treat them as second class citizens.
Yemen: Communities Unite Against Child Marriage
Two community educators prepare for a training session on the safe age of marriage. Twenty men and 20 women were selected from a group of religious leaders, nurse midwives, and civic leaders. (Photo: Basic Health Services Project)
Yemen: Women of the Revolts are Catalysts for Change
Representing all age groups and various backgrounds, they have proved to be the catalysts for change.
Dubai: The words of a mother whose son was killed by the Tunisian police in Al Qasreen area last December still ring in the ears of Hedia Belhaj Al Sebai.
"I have given my son as a martyr to Tunisia, and I still have four more sons whom I am also willing to sacrifice for the sake of my country," said the mother after her son was shot dead by the police during a protest, according to Hedia, a woman activist in her late 40s.
Yemen: Child bride gets divorce
SANAA, 28 March 2010 (IRIN) - Throngs of journalists pushed forward to get a picture of 12-year-old Sally al-Sabahi as she signed her divorce papers in the Yemeni capital on 27 March. As she dipped her thumb in dark ink and pressed it next to her name on an official document, she became Yemen’s fourth child bride divorcee.