Al-Shuaibi rape verdict exposes taboo topic: Sexual abuse in Yemen [Archives:2008/1156/Reportage]
Kawkab Al-Thaibani
and Nisreen Shadad
For The Yemen Ties
The United Nations Development Fund for Women, or UNIFEM, states that one in five women worldwide will be exposed to rape or attempted rape during their lifetime. Anisah Al-Shuaibi is one of those women.
In 2003, Al-Shuaibi's mother-in-law accused her of killing her son, Al-Shuaibi's ex-husband, who later was found to be alive and was imprisoned at the time of the accusations and her arrest. Al-Shuaibi claims she was arrested illegally in connection with her ex-husband's disappearance and that while in prison, she was subjected to abuse and rape.
However, Al-Shuaibi broke from the societal norm by speaking out about the violence and sexual assault to which she was subjected. According to UNIFEM, regional incidents of rape usually go unreported due to the shame associated with the crime.
Al-Shuaibi not only called attention to the attacks, she prosecuted the alleged perpetrators, high-ranking security officials Rizq Al-Jawfi, director of Sana'a's Criminal Investigation Unit, and Saleh Al-Salehi, head of the unit's investigations department.
The verdicts were announced last month and Al-Shuaibi's prosecution team was less than pleased. Although presiding judge Mansour Shaya' found Al-Salehi guilty, he dropped all charges against Al-Jawfi and postponed Al-Salehi's prison sentence.
Ruling that Al-Shuaibi's arrest and subsequent detention were illegal, Judge Shayee awarded her YR 1 million in compensation; however, the court didn't specify when she would receive such compensation. The prosecution now is appealing the cases against both Al-Jawfi and Al-Salehi.
After she was freed, security authorities continued harassing Al-Shuaibi and her two children. After living with death threats and constant harassment for more than a year, she pleaded with Sheikh Sadiq Al-Ahmar to protect her and now lives in one of his properties.
“In many societies, the legal system and community attitudes add to the trauma that rape survivors experience,” a 2006 UNIFEM report stated, “Women often are held responsible for the violence against them, and in many places, laws contain loopholes allowing the perpetrators to act with impunity.”
The Allawo Bar Group and Yemen's National Organization for Defending Rights and Freedoms, known as HOOD, helped Al-Shuaibi file her lawsuit against Al-Jawfi and Al-Salehi and are attempting to reopen the case because of irregularities in the court proceedings.
Al-Jawfi attended court sessions sporadically beginning in December 2006, but was absent for the majority of meetings. Additionally, two previous court sessions were held this past February without the attendance of Al-Shuaibi's lawyers or Al-Shuaibi herself.
“The general prosecution said it notified Al-Shuaibi by phone, but in fact, this method isn't legal, nor was the number [they said they called] hers,” noted Abdulrahman Barman, one of Al-Shuaibi's lawyers. The usual process of calling for trial attendance involves issuing court papers with both parties' signatures.
In previous interviews, Barman said Al-Jawfi's interrogation was held without the prosecution's attendance. Without information from this interrogation, prosecution can't bring other charges against the defendants.
With the most recent study conducted more than 10 years ago, there is no current data on the prevalence of violence against women in Yemen.
Rashida Al-Hamdani of the Women's National Committee affirms that Yemen lacks rape statistics, further adding that there are no current plans to investigate the crime's occurrence in this country.
UNIFEM calls violence against women a worldwide “pandemic” affecting women in every nation, whether developing or industrialized.
According to a 2006 UNIFEM report, “At least one out of every three women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused during her lifetime,” adding that, “Violence against women and girls is perhaps the most pervasive human rights violation.”
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