Yemen: Update to YEM30485.E of 10 December 1998 on the government attitude towards women in general and women from the south specifically, particularly with respect to any restrictions on education, employment, dress and penalties for violations of Shari'a

According to a professor of political science at the University of Guelph whose area of expertise includes women in the Middle East, including in Yemen, after unification women in the South suffered more than women in the North (20 Sept. 2001). The imposition of a new Constitution and Family Law following unification, which was based on the laws of the North where women had had fewer rights, meant that women in the South lost many of the rights that they had attained (ibid). By way of an example, Southern women had previously had equal rights to divorce their husbands, (ibid). However, after unification, divorce laws were changed to emulate the more conservative laws of the North, resulting in the situation that men are now able to demand divorce quite easily, while women have far fewer legal reasons for which they can initiate divorce proceedings (ibid). The divorce process is much more difficult for women (ibid).

As well, following unification, there was a reassertion of radical Islamist groups in the South, which had previously been suppressed under the socialist government (ibid). Immediately after unification, women who were not veiled were harassed by Islamists, the result being that far more women, even in Aden, now wear the veil in the South (ibid).

It has also been noted that, while women in the South are generally better educated and have relatively greater employment opportunities than do northern women, since unification the number of women in the southern work force has seemingly declined, reportedly due to increasing cultural pressure from the North (Country Reports 2000 Feb. 2001, section 5).

According to the professor, the ruling government party, The General People's Congress (GPC), recognizes the importance of women's votes and presents itself as the progressive party at election time, discussing women's rights and raising the profile of the Women's Sector in the Party (20 Sept. 2001). However, while technically women have all the same rights as men (with the exception of marriage and divorce), in practice the lack of enforcement of these rights has meant that government measures have not translated into any real power for women (ibid).

This opinion is reiterated in a paper published by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), which contains the suggestion of a Yemeni woman that, despite "good" Yemeni laws, it is the "power of tradition and the family that are the real obstacles to women's emancipation" (26 Mar. 1998). According to statistics contained in the paper, only 15 percent of women compared to 58 per cent of men participate in the paid work force (ibid). This figure drops to only seven per cent outside of the major urban centres (ibid). Other figures show that 85 per cent of women in rural areas and 46 per cent of women in urban areas are illiterate, compared to 35 per cent and 16 per cent respectively for men (The Jakarta Post 13 Mar. 2000). Despite compulsory education for both sexes for children between the ages of six and fifteen, girls compose only 28 per cent of the elementary school and 15 per cent of the secondary school population (ibid.). The Yemen government reportedly forbids mixed classes and yet does not make sufficient provisions for separate classes for girls (DPA 8 Mar. 2001). According to Yemeni law the legal age of marriage for girls is 15, however, in rural areas, many girls are "married-off" as young as 12 or 13 years of age (ibid.). It has only been in the last few years that women activists have initiated such women's organizations as the Women Union and the Family Care Association (The Jakarta Post 13 Mar. 2000).

According to the professor of political science, women have been the victims of honour killings, in which women have been killed by family members - sometimes in very public ways - for not behaving in an "Islamically-appropriate" manner (20 Sept. 2001). Despite public protest, there has been no strong police or governmental response against the perpetrators of such acts (ibid). The Yemeni Penal Code allows for leniency in cases involving the prosecution of perpetrators of honour crimes (Country Reports 2000 Feb. 2001, section 5). While legal provisions state that an accused man should be put to death for murdering a women, a husband who kills his wife and her lover may only receive a fine or a sentence of imprisonment no longer than one year (ibid). Instances of honour killings are, however, reportedly not prevalent (ibid.).

As well, Yemeni law still requires that a woman receive the authorization of a male family member in order to obtain a passport or to travel outside of the country (ibid.; Dawn 8 Dec. 1999) and "almost all" women remain veiled (AP 17 May 1999).

According to an Amnesty International report, the practice of indefinite detention of women prisoners until a male guardian collects them is a "particular example of a human rights violation based on gender" (July 1999, 16). Women often receive detention for such "moral" offences as adultery and, although the new penal code does not proscribe it as a crime, many women were also detained for khilwa, defined as the unjustified meeting of an adult male and an adult female who are not close relatives (ibid.).

However, unlike in many other Gulf States, Yemeni women have the right to vote and have the same employment rights as men (DPA 8 Mar. 2001), and, while in 1999 they only held two out of 301 seats in Parliament (St. Louis Post-Dispatch 28 Nov. 1999), women can run for government office and are legally entitled to run for president (DPA 8 Mar. 2001). A 20 February 2001 article reported the 120 women were running for office in local elections in a field of more than 23,000 candidates for 7,032 seats (AFP). As well, 26 women are serving in Yemen's diplomatic corps (ibid), a woman has been appointed the new minister of human rights (Yemen Times 9 Apr. 2001), Yemen has named its first woman ambassador (St. Louis Dispatch 28 Nov. 1999), and there are a "sizable" number of women lawyers and professors (AP 17 May 1999). Twenty-eight per cent of Yemen's first-year college students are women, however, their numbers fall in later years reportedly because women leave to marry or are forced to quit by parents who accuse them of having "relationships" with male classmates (ibid.). The Yemen government has reportedly begun to adopt measures to increase women's participation in the labour market by enhancing their capabilities and knowledge (IPR 1 March 2000).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Agence France Presse (AFP). 20 February 2001. Ezzedine Said. "Yemenis Go Peacefully to Polls After Violence-Marred Campaign." (NEXIS)

Amnesty International. 7 July 1999. Yemen: Empty Promises: Government Commitments and the State of Human Rights in Yemen. (AI Index: MDE 31/04/99) London: Amnesty International

Associated Press (AP). 17 May 1999. Scheherezade Faramarzi. "Women in Iran, Qatar, Yemen Can Vote But Not Dress As They Please." (NEXIS)

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2000. February 2001. United States Department of State. Washington, DC. [Accessed 19 Sept. 2001]

Dawn. 8 December 1999. Thalif Deen. "Religious Extremism on the Rise: UN." [Accessed 20 Sept. 2001]

Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA). 8 March 2001. Alexandra Pironti. "Women in the Arab Peninsula Still Seeking more Rights." (NEXIS)

International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU). 26 March 1998. "Yemen (2): Women and Children First." [Accessed 20 Sept. 2001]

IPR Strategic Business Information Database. 16 November 2000. "CSND Launched at Follow-up Gathering." (Info-Prod Research (Middle East) Ltd/NEXIS)

The Jakarta Post. 13 March 2000. Solita Sarwono. "Women of Yemen Still Denied their Basic Rights." [Accessed 20 September 2001]

Professor of Political Science, University of Guelph. Guelph. 20 September 2001. Correspondence.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 28 November 1999. Bill Lambrecht. "After Thousands of Years of Suppression, Women in Yemen are Gaining Independence." (NEXIS)

The Yemen Times [Sanaa, in English]. 9 April 2001. "Yemen: President Urges New Government to Adopt 'New Approach' to Work in Earnest." (BBC Monitoring/NEXIS)

Additional Sources Consulted

Amnesty International reports

IRB databases

LEXIS/NEXIS

Jane's Intelligence Review

Middle East

Middle East Report

Resource Centre. Country File

Women's International Network News

Yemen Human Rights Guard. Human Rights Violations in the Republic of Yemen, 1998 and 1999

Oral sources:

Unsuccessful attempts to contact two oral sources

Internet sites including:

Amnesty International

Arab Women Connect

BBC

CNN

Dawn

Derechos

Division for the Advancement of Women

European Country of Origin Information Network

Human Rights Internet

Human Rights Watch

United Nations Commission on Human Rights

United Nations News

World News Connection

Yemen Daily

Yemen Gateway

Yemen Times

Search engines:

Google

Lycospro

Rediff