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Nisma Mansoor, a 24-year-old engineering student and activist in Aden, remembers a time when there were no concrete walls and where children could run freely in the quiet streets. "This case of" hiding your women "only happened after unification," she said. "Now you can barely see a woman who does not cover her face. Everyone is more conservative and asks, "Why are you going out? Why are you working? Why do you have male friends? Even the girls themselves have begun to adopt this mentality. "Mansoor is working with the Peace Track Initiative, a women's activist organization, to call on the international community to include women in peace talks between women and men. houthis and Yemen's internationally recognized government finally took office. (On Monday, the Yemeni government agreed to participate in the UN-sponsored peace talks in Sweden after the Houthis decided to end rocket and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia and its allies. ) included. As an engineer, Mansoor also wants the reconstruction of Yemen to include gender-sensitive projects, such as the construction of wells near isolated villages, so that women are not forced to walk so far. and risk their safety to fetch water and carry out their daily tasks.
The Southern Transitional Council, an organization of provincial leaders advocating secession from the South and supported by the United Arab Emirates, had planned a rally on October 14 to commemorate the start of the 1963 revolt against British colonial rule in South Yemen. The council canceled it at the last minute, claiming that he wanted instead to allocate the funds to humanitarian projects. The growing secessionist movement has fueled factional clashes within the Saudi-backed coalition earlier this year and has complicated prospects for a peaceful settlement in Yemen. Although the international committee has acknowledged the council's demands, they are not part of the upcoming peace talks in Sweden, according to UN officials.
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Despite the cancellation of the demonstration, hundreds of people gathered in the square. The atmosphere was festive but tense. Fanfares passed through crowds of men chewing qat, a plant that causes a soft high. Vans equipped with submachine guns mounted at the back slowly crossed the street, while young armed men embarked on the excitement. On the main stage, political leaders, men and women, delivered impassioned speeches in front of a growing crowd. The women's section was half of the scene. Militants, wearing niqabs and abayas, draped their black-clad bodies with bold banners emblazoned with the flag of the southern separatist movement. They wore pink handbags with feminine empowerment messages written on their foreheads, passionately singing to the crowd. "They could burn us alive or burn our children before our eyes," an activist said the day before. "We are ready to die here. We claim some human rights here. "
After about 30 minutes, a fight broke out between two people in the crowd, causing panic among people gathered under the scene. Hundreds of people scattered in seconds, leaving the place almost empty. The activists settled in a quiet street behind the stage, shaking their heads and laughing. One of them had his young son with her. He too was smiling. "Do not worry, everything is O.K.", the mother told me. "You are safe."
