Gender Aspects of the Yemeni Conflict (2014–2023)

Abstract

The authors examine how the armed conflict in Yemen impacted gender roles based on the concepts of freedom and equality accepted in traditional Middle Eastern societies. In the context of the Yemeni crisis, men are recruited into armed groups, suffer from arbitrary detention, violence in places of detention, including torture, degrading human dignity, as well as psychological problems related to the discrepancy between their ideas about the honor and dignity of men and the realities in which men are forced to exist during the Civil War. Women and girls are also subjected to violence based on gender and family relationships, as well as forced marriages and limited access to healthcare and education. Additionally, women have to take on unusual roles in society, such as joining security forces, armed militias, or participating in peacemaking efforts. The lack of objective data on Yemen’s situation should not surprise researchers, and Western human rights institutions’ information about women’s rights in the Middle East should be carefully verified and critically examined.