With support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) through the United Nations Peace Support Facility (PSF), the Abductees’ Mothers Association (AMA) held its third dialogue session as part of the project “Protecting Civil and Women’s Spaces and Promoting Women’s Role in the Peace Process.”

During the dialogue session, which was held in Al-Shamayatayn District in the city of Taiz, violations committed against women activists both online and on the ground were presented. The session addressed the impact of these violations on women’s civic and political participation in the peacebuilding process, and discussed ways to strengthen mechanisms that protect peace-related activism.

Participants in the session, women activists and defenders from Al-Shamayatayn District, community leaders, and preachers, totaling 12 individuals, stated that the most prominent violations faced by women activists include bullying, media incitement, defamation, financial and cyber extortion, gender-based discrimination, obstruction of activities, and the dissemination of hate speech and violence against them.

The session concluded with a number of recommendations, most notably the need to establish a local network of human rights defenders to monitor violations, launch an electronic platform to protect them, and provide training in digital security for specialists and activists. It also stressed the importance of equipping and training security personnel, giving priority to female officers, to combat cybercrimes, and of implementing awareness programs and workshops on women’s rights and the role of law enforcement.

Participants emphasized the importance of strengthening safe communication channels with official authorities to receive complaints from activists, activating a neutral governmental monitoring mechanism, preparing a roadmap to implement the workshop’s outcomes with the engagement and continued involvement of participants, holding regular meetings to discuss results and develop implementation plans, and ensuring continuous coordination between relevant organizations and activists.

It is worth noting that these sessions come in response to the increasing violations targeting women activists in Yemen, and aim to highlight the nature of these violations and their direct consequences on women’s effectiveness in peace and development efforts.

MySonFreedomFirst