I went to Yemen to witness the situation of women in a
conservative Muslim country. Yemen is the poorest country of
the Arabian pensinsula, it is far from being modernized and
women mutilations are sadly common: honour crimes, domestic
violence, repudiations (many of whom are forced into
prostitution), rape, female excision and early mariages (50% of
yemeni women are married before 14 years old) difficult school
access and no right of expression. Half of the population lives
under the Niqab, the customary black dress, gone are the days
when Yemeni women, dressed in jeans and blouse, donned
Kalashnikovs as socialist militants in the Republic of South
Yemen. Now, they have become black ghosts, their jeans hidden
under the burqah, 20 years after the re-unification of the two
republics the whole country has adopted the ultra-conservative
mores of the North. Until 1962, when the Imam was deposed,
Yemen was one of the most secluded countries on earth,
despite being a democratic country, Yemen had the same
president since 32 years. The ubiquitous black burqah is but
one symptom of the radicalisation creeping through the Muslim
world. Tawakul Karman, the Nobel price winner is an amazing
hope for all the women fighting in the Middle East revolutions.
The Westerner's vision of muslim women often reduces their life
to common stereotypes of the veil, arranged wedding, violence
and terrorism. The focus of the 'News' doesn't give us time to
understand the reality of Muslim societies.
I invite you to discover and try to understand women within
Islam, in their diversity and their beauty. Meet women like
Noujoud, famously divorced at 10 years old, a nameless rebel
from the Al Houthis tribe in the hidden war in the north or Sali,
beggar and prostitute in the streets of Sanaa...
photojournalist
Awards many...
