On the occasion of International Women’s Day, March 8th, INSAF Center organized a panel discussion via Zoom with a group of minority women in Yemen, in which issues of concern to women in general and women in the minority community in particular were discussed, in light of the ongoing war in the country and the violations that these societies are subjected to.
The meeting was moderated by Eman Abdullah Homaid, chairperson of INSAF Center for Defending Freedoms & Minorities, with the participation of a group of active women in the Jewish, marginalized, Baha’i and Christian minorities.
The session first dealt with the different accounts regarding the personal and collective suffering that these women or their societies faced in Yemen, whether through violations imposed by society in general or from those threats and violations against minorities by militias, authorities, official bodies, organizations and various other groups.
A review was conducted on the types of violations and systematic racism that undermine the safety elements of these societies and thus negatively affecting the cohesion of society in general, forcing some to leave their homelands and migrate to different regions of the world. In spite of this, they emphasized their longing for the homeland and their overwhelming desire to return, along with the dream that everyone, regardless of their different beliefs, affiliations and orientations, would live in a one country governed by law, justice and fairness.
Accounts of suffering with migration and alienation, and previous discrimination in its various forms and colors, were also reviewed, of which they or family members or their community were affected.
The attendees recommended the necessity of striving to affirm the right to disagree and the right to recognize others, and to uphold them as rights that no one has the right to confiscate. It was also emphasized that making this change would only be attainable through patience and continuing on this path, which would not only bring stability to the minority community, but would also bring success society as a whole.
