Almotamar.net - Human rights Minister Huda al-Ban called Wednesday on all educational and media institutions in Yemen and the Arab world to take stances supportive to the woman rights in the essential issues and to unveil types of violence directed against the woman. she also called for facilitating impediments blocking the woman rights to political participation in order to establish comprehension of her different issues in addition to improving knowledge of her needs. She also asked for issuing legislations and decisions for her protection and to toughen punishments against practicing family and social violence against her.


That came in the Minister's speech she delivered at the opening of the regional conference inaugurated Wednesday in Sana'a under the motto "Together to end violence against the woman". The Human Rights Minister called on all Arab organisations to organize aware campaigns in order to activate agreements on ending all forms of discrimination against the woman and the necessity of deepening mechanisms of coordination among organisations working in the field of woman rights and exchanging information, especially regarding the efforts exerted for developing a system of laws of personal status.
She stressed that these organisations should give especial attention to the issue related to violence against the woman in addition to exposure of the prejudiced use of religion and legal interpretations in an attempt to give legitimacy to lower status of the woman and called to benefit from religious men to open dialogue with trends that are more open and enlightened. She pointed out that all forms of violence against the woman are considered a major cause in tearing off the fabric of the family and a factor to displacement of children and depriving them of the simplest needs of safe childhood.

The Human Rights Minister said" Despite the noticeable progress achieved for the Yemeni woman in the previous years in all walks of life, the human rights of the woman, as is the case for her Arab sisters, remain the weakest aspects of human rights and most fragile because of a historical heritage curbing the woman's progress towards equality and depriving her of enjoying the relative gains she got."

The Minister added among the main indicators of the woman exposure to violence is the violence represented by physical violation against young females. She pointed out that present evidence indicates that the Arab woman, especially in the rural areas, is still exposed to many types of social, family and economic violence and it is embodied by the physical harm, early marriage, deprivation of education, preliminary health care services, imposition of duties heavier than her physiological and psychological capabilities although there are relevant legal texts concerning the achievement of justice and equality between the man and the woman. She said protection of the woman against violence is the essential means for removing the difficulties that restrain development of the woman in various social and legal aspects.


In the same context the chairwoman of Yemen Women Federation Ramziyah Al-Eryany said dissemination of the phenomenon of female circumcision in Yemen is attributed to negative cultural accumulations and ignorance of the society of the legal rights of the woman and confusion between the inherited accumulations and the correct Islamic religion texts.

She has also attributed that phenomenon in Yemen to being acquired from the African migrations, citing that by spread of this phenomenon in the coastal regions. She added that despite the Yemeni government efforts for putting an end to this phenomenon it is still practiced secretly in houses without knowledge of health authorities.

On his part the assistant representative of the UN Fund of Population in Yemen Saleh Bi Al-Sheikh said the violence directed to the woman and girls is unacceptable and will not be tolerated, calling all to join forces in order to change the deep-rooted trends that consolidate the phenomenon of female circumcision.