Rights activists reveal Houthi crimes against women in Yemen

Houthi violations against women in Yemen continue unabated, despite the ceasefires that temporarily halt the battlefields

The group intensifies its crimes and encroachments on women’s rights, disregarding all laws and customs. This comes at a time when numerous international human rights organizations and institutions have called on the Houthi group, supported by Iran, to immediately lift their restrictions on women’s freedom of movement, expression, health, and work in Yemen.

Crimes against women

Yasmine Al-Zubaidi, head of the Women’s Committee in the Southern Transitional Council, revealed that Houthi violations against women are numerous and diverse. Given that women are the most vulnerable link in society, they bear the brunt of these violations. Al-Zubaidi confirmed that the most prominent Houthi violations against women in northern Yemen involve the abduction of women and girls to Houthi prisons, subjecting them to sexual, physical, and psychological abuses in Houthi dungeons. Additionally, women’s mouths are being forcibly silenced.

She continued: The Houthi group increasingly imposes restrictions on women’s clothing; they recently mandated that women’s clothing stores can only sell long black abayas. They also barred women from various public places, such as restaurants and cafes, in addition to workplaces.

Ongoing violations

Ahmed Jabari, Yemeni human rights activist, states that among the Houthi violations against women is the behavior of the Houthi Zeinabiyat. They impose many and diverse restrictions on women in the north, including enforcing Shia rituals on women and coercing them into following them, such as repeating Houthi slogans and insulting and slandering Lady Aisha, the mother of the believers, and other actions that contradict the teachings of tolerant Islam.

He added: ‘’Many Southern women, especially in border areas with the Houthis, have been intentionally killed and targeted, resulting in many women being partially or permanently disabled. This is due to their disregard for the provisions of international humanitarian law, which prohibits targeting civilians, including women and children, in conflict zones’’.