Middle East | Yemen | Activism

Yemeni women stage rare protest in rebel-held capital

Hundreds of Yemeni women protested Friday in the country’s rebel-held capital over a shortage of gasoline, a rare sign of dissent against the Shiite Houthi rebels who overran Sanaa in September. The demonstration started at a women-only gas station when a station official told some 500 waiting customers there was no fuel, protester Onisya Mahfouz said. A fight broke out and a woman slapped the official, who detained her and four others, Mahfouz said. The women staged an impromptu sit-in, burning tires and demanding the detained women be released. They accused the Houthi station managem

Middle East | Yemen | Arts

Amani Yahya, Yemen’s first female rapper: I will find a way, I will shine

Source: theguardian

It’s day three of the Liverpool Arab Arts festival, but one of its performers hasn’t yet been to a single event. Amani Yahya – billed as Yemen’s first female rapper – is still thousands of miles away. With her homeland on the brink of civil war, Yahya, along with her family, has had to flee to Saudi Arabia, where the kingdom’s strict rules mean her fledging musical career has come to an abrupt halt. On top of this, her visa to attend the UK festival has been denied. But, if exile and war would be enough to crush most people, the disappointment at missing the festival is the o

Middle East | Yemen | Activism

In Yemen, a Brief Moment Before Women Were Pushed Aside Again

Source: The New York Times

When protesters in Yemen succeeded in ousting President Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2012, their success stirred hopes for change in a place that had suffered mightily from poverty and corruption for decades under his autocratic rule. The developments raised the possibility that power would flow to marginalized groups, and seemed especially promising for women, who played a central role in the revolt and were guaranteed seats in a national conference convened to chart the country’s future. Instead, Yemen is now unraveling, torn apart by civil war and under aerial attack by a military coalition le

Middle East | Yemen | Corruption

Blessings in disguise: girl flees Yemen dressed as a boy

Source: Albawaba

Yemenis who have escaped the clutches of the Houthis have horror stories to tell. Their hopes rested on a thin line between life and death. The story of Zamzam, a young Yemeni girl, is an example of what ordinary citizens are enduring because of the reign of terror unleashed by the Houthis. Zamzam was forced by her mother to cut her long hair to look like a boy. She was put in men’s attire. Her mother was afraid that the Houthis might capture her and harm her at the border checkpoint on the Yemeni side. Umm Zamzam said: “Those were the most difficult and harrowing moments my famil

Middle East | Yemen | Culture

“Yemeni women have great abilities”

Source: Yemen Times

Yemen has for long ranked poorly in gender equality. The Global Gender Gap Report, released annually by the World Economic Forum, has repeatedly ranked Yemen dead last. Despite this, Fatima Al-Selwi, the businesswomen office director at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Sana’a’s Capital Secretariat, is optimistic things are changing. The chamber, which serves as “the union of the private sector,” as she puts it, “gives women a chance to be under the umbrella of an organized sector.” The chamber’s mission is to strengthen the role of the private sector in improving ec