Yeminis Women's Security at Risk
Official Press Release:
The Hague, May 9th 2011
Yeminis Women’s Security at Risk
Women’s Rights of Expression, Mediation & Demonstration Being Threatened:
On the verge of civil war: Women groups strive for Conflict-Prevention
Under UNSCR 1325 Dutch government needs to take immediate action to protect the rights of women in Yemen.
As a result of president’s remarks the climate of security and safety for women to participate in pro-democracy movements in Yemen has changed drastically. Women on the one hand are faced with the challenge of protecting their rights to demonstrate and on the other hand they feel that their personal security is at risk. In a volatile political climate women in Yemen are playing a crucial role in conflict prevention among various political and ethnic groups.
Wameedh Shakir of WATAN Coalition (Yemen) through Gender Concerns International has appealed to the international community to take notice of the impact of President Saleh’s remarks. She emphasized that “the women of Yemen are feeling that their freedom of demonstration, expression, mediation and visibility are being threatened from pro-government pressure groups and women’s insecurity has recently escalated”.
Like in other pro-democracy movements in Arab world, women in Yemen are at the forefront of their pro-democracy movement. However they fear of being sidelined, removed from political participation, and their voices not being heard. There is a huge urgency in Yemen to support women’s organizations, to provide resources that will allow self-organization, the continuation of care for widows, affected children and demonstrators, and supply the means that allow women’s groups to connect with leaders of the international community. Through a conversation, via telephonic communication, with Wameedh Shakir, Gender Concerns International Director, Sabra Bano, has reassured her support to the women in Yemen and added that “it’s time that women organizations have the support and protection to be able to secure their basic human rights.” Currently in this socio-economic climate, the Yemenis women’s rights are being violated and peace-protestors are being mistreated. If these continuous threats against women are not quickly addressed or responded to by international community, than the situation will become even more violent and unstable. Ms. Shakir of the WATAN Coalition wants it to be made known that “our[WATAN] main concern now is the threat of the likeliness of civil war that might break as a final result of the ongoing extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearance, illegal arrest, armed clashes and its impact on women in Yemen.”
Women in Yemen are posed with many challenges. The Yemenis Women’s Movement strives to achieve gender, human and citizen equality through conflict-prevention, dialogue, mobilization and lobbying to influence the international civil society to help sustain the performance of human and gender rights organizations. From the recent information disclosed by the representative of the WATAN Coalition (Yemen) it has become even more evident that women’s groups and organizations in the Middle East are needing international attention and support.
For further information please contact:
Gender Concerns International
Phone: 00 31 (070) 4445082 Mobile: 00 31 (0)6 53965784
Laan van Meerdervoort 70 2517 AN, The Hague
Email: rachel@genderconcerns.org Site: http://www.genderconcerns.org
Alert 2011