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Local Initiatives Create a Safer Digital Space for Yemeni Women 
A Yemeni woman works on a computer at a library in the Taiz Governorate, Yemen. (Khalid Foud/The Media Line)

Local Initiatives Create a Safer Digital Space for Yemeni Women 

Digital harassment and social disapproval have kept women in Yemen women from taking full advantage of the internet – but new initiatives are helping get rid of these barriers

UN Women, the United Nations organization for women’s equality and empowerment, used International Women’s Day earlier this month as an opportunity to call for greater equity for women in the digital world. “The digital space must undergo a feminist revolution,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said in a statement.

The need to focus on women’s rights in the digital sphere is especially evident in Yemen, where many women face both digital illiteracy and other obstacles to using the internet, as well as online harassment. The Media Line spoke to Yemeni journalist Sahar Ahmed about the issues facing female internet users in Yemen.

Sahar explains that many women in Yemen fall victim to online extortion scams because of digital illiteracy and fear of being publicly shamed.

To avoid extortion and other forms of online harassment, “many girls are forced to either escape from everything related to the internet, or hide behind aliases, some of which are masculine, to give them a sense of cyber-freedom,” Sahar said.

The dream of a more equitable internet was what inspired Shaimaa al-Qershi to found Barcode, an online platform meant to make the internet a safer space for women and to increase women’s digital literacy.

“Women in Yemeni society, especially in rural areas and cities of a tribal nature, are afraid of falling prey to cybercriminals,” Qershi said. She explained that this dynamic has led to Yemeni women failing to take as much advantage of the digital revolution as their male counterparts.

Barcode, together with other initiatives such as Sanad, Digital Rights, and Yodet, helps Yemeni women respond to crimes and harassment committed against them on the internet.

Zamzam Muhammad, 22, is one such Yemeni woman who fell victim to cybercrime. After Muhammad’s Facebook account was hacked, she was blackmailed by the hackers. She was extremely distressed about the hacking and concerned about how her family would react if her private photos were circulated.

Muhammad chose to contact a local youth initiative, which managed to restore her Facebook account and put an end to the blackmail.

The initiative also provided her with information on account security and how to make the most of the digital world.

“I am now more courageous and more empowered to use the internet,” Muhammad said.

Other Yemeni women’s access to the internet is affected not only by fear of cybercrime but also by conservative cultural mores.

Faten, a 24-year-old university student from the city of Marib in western Yemen, struggled in her classes due to her inability to access the internet at home. In keeping with the conservative tribal traditions common in Marib, Faten’s family forbade women from using the internet.

She found a solution at Um Feras’ internet café, the first women-only internet café in Marib. There, she was able to use the internet for her classes despite her family’s opposition.

Shaima al-Amiri, a staff member at the café, told The Media Line that working at the café was difficult at first due to the community’s disapproval of women using the internet. She explained that the presence of internally displaced people from other, less conservative governorates made women’s internet use more acceptable.

According to a report published last year by the International Organization for Migration, more than 250,000 internally displaced people live in Marib.

Al-Amiri said that the internet café has allowed Marib’s girls and women to access the internet despite the community’s disapproval.

Many of them have been able to find job opportunities and further their education thanks to their access to the internet, she explained.

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