GENDER: Meanings, Uses, and Discourses in Post-Unification Yemen, Part 3 [Archives:2000/27/Culture]
Dr. Margot Badran
I would now like to consider the contradictory fate of gender in Yemen within the last twelve months. In 1999 two important international conferences were held in Yemen. The first was The Emerging Democracies Forum held in June. The second was the International Conference on Challenges for Women’s Studies in the 21st Century convened in September. Both conferences were sponsored by the President of the Republic and both accorded gender important attention.
At the Emerging Democracies Forum the President of the Republic and Prime Minister of Yemen gave keynote addresses on the practice and enhancement of democracy in Yemen. Throughout the conference balanced gender participation in the democratic processes was acknowledged as fundamental to the democratic project. The President of the Republic stated in the closing session: “We cannot just keep on saying that women have the right to vote, women have equal rights with men, women have the right to study, etc, without working on this. We need to have these things implemented in reality, and not be satisfied with just talk.” (quoted from The Yemen Times, July 1, 1999) The Sana’a Declaration adopted at the end of the Forum asserted that: “Public participation in democratic decision making is enhanced byensuring that governments and political parties take measures to increase the number of women in parliament and appoint women to key government posts, conducting civic education in schools, non-governmental organizations, parties and the media to address cultural, attitudinal and legal barriers to the political and economic participation of women” One month following the conference a woman was appointed to the Politburo of the ruling party and the first woman was named ambassador.
The second conference, the International Conference on Challenges for Women’s Studies in the 21st Century, was organized by the Empirical Research and Women’s Studies Center to assess the state of the art of women’s studies, especially in Arab and Muslim societies, on the eve of the new century. The conference was designed to serve as a forum for nationally and internationally recognized scholars in the field of women’s studies to present their work and engage in dialogue and debate. Instantaneous interpretation in three languages, Arabic, English, and French was provided in order to facilitate more effective audience participation, specifically encouraging members of the audience to ask questions and engage in dialogue.
In both conferences there was a range of views expressed and analyzes advanced. In the first conference, the Emerging Democracies Forum, there were lively debates on gender and other issues in which sometimes distinct and strongly felt disagreement were articulated. During the second conference, the International Conference on Challenges for Women’s Studies in the 21st Century, some of those in attendance became irate over certain presentations, but did not avail themselves of the opportunity provided to them to engage in the common practice of free, open academic debate at the time. They did not directly confront those with whom they disagreed in order to have a constructive dialogue. We only learned about the outrage later in angry articles in the press and through other forms of public pronouncements. Moreover, some irate persons expected the conference organizer, the Empirical Research and Women’s Studies Center, to pass prior judgement on the presentations to be given at the conference, a requirement, it should be noted, not expected of the presenters at the Emerging Democracies Forum. The prior vetting of conference papers, of course would constitute censorship and a removal of the democratic right of free speech and a flagrant attack upon the practice of academic freedom.
Following the women’s studies conference, which ended on September 14, 1999, at the time when the country was preparing for the presidential election, there was a severe and widespread attack on the Empirical Research and Women’s Studies Center. This occasioned the unleashing of the demonizing discourse of gendera sensationalist discourse of deceit and ignorance capitalizing on ignorance. Although the Empirical Research and Women’s Studies Center had previously run several public workshops and conferences, the press and public showed little interest in gender on these occasions.
In September 1999 the negative and fallacious discourse of gender was unleashed in public attacking the Empirical Research and Women’s Studies Center at Sana’a University and maligning the academic discourse of gender. An article appeared in the newspaper al-`Asima entitled, “`al-Jandar’ haqiqa wa akhtara!” (Gender: the Truth and the Danger) warning that “The Genderists (janadira) have arrived in Sana’a.” Genderists, presumably those who use the discourse of gender, had been around at least from the early 1990s. Suddenly, the genderists were portrayed as a disruptive force, out “to change the basic social order under the pretext of educating us.” (article by Rashad al-Shara`bi, Oct. 17, 1999)
This discourse of negativity and alarm was quickly spread in the press, public addresses, and cassettes from the capital to the far corners of the country. The demonizing discourse put the loanword gender (al-jandar) on the Arabic lexical map, and more particularly the map of vernacular Arabic, but as it did so it cast gender as a pejorative term. The demonizing discourse spread “definitions” and ideas about gender that cast gender as something immoral and against religion, triggering a pernicious atmosphere of suspicion and danger. Of course, an analytical tool, which is what gender is, logically cannot be for or against something.
In order to discredit an idea, classic forms of attack have been to brand it as against Islam, culture, traditions, and the nation. Indeed, a leading politician pronounced in The Yemen Times in October 1999 (issue 14, Oct. 4-10) that gender has “no place in our culture or language” and, moreover, it “insults our constitution, our religion, and our culture.” One might ask again, how can an analytical tool insult the constitution, religion, and culture? And if, gender insults the constitution, religion, and culture, is this to say that the government insults its own constitution, religion, and culture? Is it to say that the university and its leadership and faculty insult the constitution, religion, and culture? And, that the state and academia have been doing so for the better part of the decade of the 1990s? If so, why was the alarm not sounded earlier? The self-appointed custodians of the constitution, religion, and culture were tardy in carrying out the job they accorded themselves. And when the gender alarm sounded why was it so selective?
Gender discussions often mask an important sub-text, which is not about women and/or men but are meant to serve other agendas, or multiple agendas at the same time. Indeed, there is a large literature on this subject. When looking at the demonizing narrative of gender in Yemen we see that it goes far beyond a simple lack of understanding but ventures into the realm of wild fantasy pivoting around sexual imaginaries, associating gender with what is illicit sex in Islam. In one stroke, to link gender with illicit sex is to delegitimize gender in the most sensational way possible. A sample of quotations from the press will illustrate the demonizing narrative.
Gender is parallel to globalization. It means unifying the human being and erasing the differences and barriers between males and females in order to give equality to women with men. `Ansar al-jandar’ (disciples of gender) are out to deform nature [issuing] an invitation for marriage between men and men, and women and womenThose who demand to erase the differences between males and females despise the woman and so they want to transform her into a man. And to achieve equality they want men to become women.
Zaid bin Ali al-Shami, al-Sahwa, 14 Oct. 1999
Gender philosophers (falasafit al-jandar) are spreading immorality, corruption, and harm to the familyThey advocate deviant sexual behavior: adultery, homosexuality, and lesbianism. They want to destroy the legal marriage contract between women and men, which includes rights, duties, and responsibilities. How can this term be spread in academic centers under the name of knowledge in a country of faith and wisdom?
Muhammad al-Khamisi, al-Sahwa, 14 Oct. 1999
What is interesting and counter-logical is that the demonized notion of gender was selectively, and in a highly public way, applied to women’s studies, that is to the academic discourse, but was not directed towards the governmental discourse of democracy and development. Strewn through the demonizing discourse were attacks, both implicit and explicit, on the Empirical Research and Women’s Studies Center with urgent calls for the closure of the Center. Could the Center have been engaged for several years in teaching gender with the meanings the detractors have attached to it under the eyes of the faculty and higher university authorities (many of whom also taught in the Center) without being found out and exposed far earlier? And, if this were possibly the case, then these higher authorities should surely bear responsibility. Moreover, would a foreign donor, with an excellent reputation for supporting gender projects in Muslim societies, not only in the Middle East but in South Asia and East Asia, have supported such a malevolent project for nearly four years?
For these and other reasons it seems superfluous to deny the allegations put forth in the demonizing discourse of what gender means and to counter the attacks leveled against those who teach gender theory and methodology. However, I would like to state for the record that gender was never, and indeed logically could never be, used at the Empirical Research and Women’s Studies Center in the ways the detractors have alleged. To repeat yet again, gender as an analytical tool cannot be against anything, it cannot be against Islam. It is worth pointing out that all lectures and discussions at the Empirical Research and Women’s Studies Center were electronically recorded and accordingly there is thorough documentation available to those concerned with the truth. What is against Islam is defamation and slander which constitute grievous offenses for which restitution is required. While the attacks against gender were used as a means of slamming the Empirical Research and Women’s Studies Center, to attack gender as such is also to attack the governmental gender discourse of democracy and development, yet this discourse was not attacked outright.
Why this selective demonizing of gender? If gender is demonized can this demonizing be controlled or confined, simply to one sphere?
An external committee composed of high officials was created to investigate the Center. One of the committee members in his report cast aspersions on the Center administration and faculty. He also maligned gender, the central analytical concept and tool of women’s studies, in the process discrediting the discipline itself. Meanwhile, a university committee charged to examine the case voiced a similar position. Upon recommendation there was a suspension of classes and the erasure (al- ilgha`) of the Empirical Research and Women’s Studies Center was declared. The name of the Empirical Research and Women’s Studies Center was changed to the Center for the Study of the Woman (Markaz al-Dirasat al-Mar’a). The acting director of the Empirical Research and Women’s Studies Center (standing in for the director away on sabbatical) was demoted to deputy director and a new director was installed from on high. The core gender courses: the Introduction to Women’s Studies and Gender Research Methodologies were removed from the curriculum and the word gender was purged from the academic vocabulary. With the dismantling of the discipline of women’s studies most of the faculty members who were previously teaching at the Center departed to be replaced by new teachers. After effecting this fundamental restructuringand the effective dismantling of women’s studies as a scholarly discipline recognizable to any knowledgeable and serious academicianthe new Center for the Study of the Woman was opened at Sana`a’ University in the middle of April. When the more immediate objectives of the demonizing discourse had been achieved within the academy and when the seeds of negative notions of gender had been widely planted, the shrill attacks against gender and women’s studies tapered off in public forums.
The most immediate casualties of the women’s studies crisis were the students of the Empirical Research and Women’s Studies Center, some of the finest students coming from across a wide spectrum of faculties at San`a’ University, and as well as from other universities in the country. The very least that could be said was that these students lost months of study. The fate of the Master’s Degree studentsthat is, whether or not they would be able to take their degreeshung in the air. Many students had invested several years. The first batch was taken in 1994-95 and there have been intakes every academic year since with a total of sixty-four Master’s students by the academic year 1998-99. The twenty-five new M.A. students accepted for the academic year 1999-2000 left after the crisis. Just recently (during May 2000) the Scientific Council of the Women’s Studies Center, composed of vice-deans of faculties, decided that M.A. students may take their degrees upon successful completion of their requirements, namely upon completion of their master’s theses. It was declared that such students are to take their degrees from the faculties from which they originated. They need the approval of professors in these diverse faculties, most of whom have no qualifications in women’s studies. Moreover, are these M.A. students now required to purge the word gender from their theses in order to past muster? The substantive and administrative problems go on and on, illustrating the absurdity of the situation. Meanwhile the students’ lives are held in balance. What are our responsibilities as university administrators and educators to those entrusted to our care, it might well be asked?
In an effort to rescue themselves and the Empirical Research and Women’s Studies Center, M.A students registered a shaqwa (complaint) on December 6, 1999 with the Western Court of San`a’ protesting the uncertain fate of their degrees and demanding that they be allowed to finish their degrees. They have gone regularly to the Western Court since then and have recently been assured by the Judge that they will receive a decision soon. This was written in the middle of May and that “soon” has yet to come.
In spite of all the confusion surrounding the Center M.A. students and PhD candidates independently carried on with their research. The Center staff continued to come to work throughout the crisis. The staff finally received their salaries on May 15th and shortly afterwards the scholarship students were given their stipends. The burden individuals sustained throughout this crisis hardly needs to be pointed out. Thus, students and ordinary workers have been made to pay the price for the women’s studies crisis. While the funds were frozen in a timely fashion (after the crisis erupted) they were not unfrozen in a timely fashion and there are still unmet obligations.
Contradictions and absurdities relating to the “gender story” keep multiplying. I would like to revisit the subject of gender terminology in Arabic. Earlier I mention how the negative discourse which saturated the press and was funneled through other public forums assured a place for al-jandar in the Arabic vernacular. In trying to discredit gender, or al-jandar, writers and speakers have engaged in imaginative morphological exploits, demonstrating the potential of the root j n d r. Circulating in the Yemeni journalistic print culture we see the nouns al-jandar (gender), jandara (genderism), jandari (male genderist), jandariyya (female genderist), and janadira (collective plural for genderists). We see the verbs ,jandara/ujandiru (to gender), and tajandara/yatajandaru (to make into a genderist). There is also the adverb jandariyyan (genderistically). With the exception of the words “gender” and “to gender” we do not have the other above-mentioned words in English. Thus, Yemeni Arabic has given English reverse loan words such as genderist, genderism, and genderistic and in so doing has enriched the gender vocabulary in this language.
An impressive repetoire of gender terminology in Arabic has been developed in the last several months. Terms include: ansar al-jandar (disciples of gender), ahl al-jandar (people of gender), thaqafa jandariyya (gender culture), al-qadaiyya al-jandariyya (gender issues), al-wa`i al-jandari (gender consciousness, which the UN handbook calls wa`i al-naw, mustaqbal jandari (gendered future), quwwa jandariyat al-tarikhhiyya (historical gender power) and a rather amusing term aja’ib jandariyya (gender wonders). One writer, who used many of these phrases in a single article, also noted that, in one of the Women’s Studies Conference papers that the Queen of Sheba was cited as an important woman ruler in Yemen, lamenting that the genderists even go so far as “to gender her [Balqis]” ([an] yujandiruha)..
Let us now return, by way of recapitulation, to the question of the three narratives of gender in Yemen, with which I began this presentation. Gender remains a fundamental concept and retains its positive meaning within the government discourse of development and democracy. However, the academic discourse of gender, emanating from San`a’ University has been silenced as an overt discourse. Even the term gender itself, as noted, has been evacuated. When the central concepts and tools of analysis of an academic discipline are evacuated the field is effectively dismantled, certainly as a recognizably credible enterprise.
While women’s studies as an institutionalized academic discourse has suffered a serious set-back, women’s studies as originally introduced at San`a’ University has left an indelible intellectual legacy. The academic discourse of gender has made fundamental interventions in the debates around male and female roles, and constructions of masculinity and femininity, locally and beyond. In times of crisis, persons are forced to re-examine their ideas and their commitment. People are forced to take stock. Discussions about gender go on, both as a reasoned discourse and as a destructive project. Thus, we witness the contradictory fate of gender in the first decade of post-unification Yemen.
I mentioned at the outset that there is a missing gender discourse in Yementhe discourse of gender and Islamfor which there is a significant and growing literature. Scholars are employing ijtihad (by the way we have appropriated this term as a loanword in English) to analyze sacred texts in an effort to probe their implications for deeper understandings of prescriptions and guidance for Muslim men and women, that is for deeper understandings of Islamic constructions of gender. This is going on from Qom to Cairo to Karachi to Cape Town to Fes to London to Paris to Washington. Let me mention only three books to give an example of the growing literature in this area: Gender Equity in Islam by Jamal Badawi (published in 1995 by an Islamic trust in the United States); Islam and Gender (published in 1999) by Ziba Mir-Hosseini in which the author presents and analyzes approaches of Iranian religious scholars from Qom on gender and Islamic jurisprudence; and Woman and Quran by the internationally recognized Muslim theologian Amina Wadud-Muhsin published in Kuwala Lumpur in 1992. There is also an international Muslim website called Islam21 where Muslim intellectuals, scholars, and activists from across a wide ideological and political spectrum engage in debate and dialogue on gender and Islam both in their general discussions and within a special section called Gender Issues. Analyzing this rapidly expanding discourse of Islam and gender produced by some of the finest scholars in the world must be the subject of another paper.
Issues of gender are sensitive and easily politicized. If in the midst of the storm the vision of some is blurred and the resolve of some is weakened, history will be a stern judge. The folly of demonizing gender as against religion and culture will be derided.
Learning about Women’s Qat Sessions
D. Abdallah A.
Al-Zalab
Sociologist
“Closed” Qat Sessions
This type of women’s session emerged recently, and has only spread on a large scale during the last ten years. Its emergence is attributed to several factors such as not allowing unmarried girls to attend the traditional “Tafrita” sessions, the common condition of women working out of their homes at public/private institutions, and the increasing number of literate women and their introduction to Western society. All these factors motivated a substantial segment of the new generation of women, literate girls, female employees, and the educated and wealthy elite class of women to think of a modern convenient alternative to the traditional “Tafrita” Sessions.
The closed qat-chewing sessions, with many of their characteristics, are different from the traditional “Tafrita” sessions. In the closed sessions, qat represents an essential element, unlike the “Tafrita” sessions. These sessions start at about 5:00 PM, and end at about 9:00 to 10:00 PM. The most common guests of such sessions are girls, young married women (employees and students), the elite educated class, and those women who are influenced by Western cultures.
The closed qat sessions take place regularly and without the need for a special occasion. They are known for the fact that they are held mostly with the aim of providing rest and entertainment, while the traditional sessions include several functions, both social and psychological. Also, in most cases, the closed sessions are distinguished by being attended by a specific and limited group of guests who have intimate relationships with each other. This type of session began to spread conspicuously, and in a manner that competed with the “Tafrita” sessions. This was especially true in the major cities, after previously having been held in complete secrecy, as qat-chewing by women contradicts the prevailing social values and the traditional roles of women inside and outside their homes.
The most common day for women to hold this closed type of qat-chewing session is Thursday, though some prefer to hold them on Mondays. Researcher, Najat Al-Sa’im, noted “there are social differences, in terms of classes and education.9
Also, it is noted that these types of sessions consolidate social distinction within the women’s community, where every group is sure to stay restricted to itself. As a result of the criteria of binding a specific group, women who are from a different social group are restricted from joining it. Such groups are established on different bases, among which are age, class or profession.
Such sessions give a woman a suitable environment to practice her freedom and to escape the daily concerns of life, and commitments and pressures of a community dominated by men.
British scholar, Shelagh Weir, states “The qat-chewing sessions were, before the 1970s, an urban phenomenon of the upper class only.”10 However, currently, this type of session has become widely spread throughout Yemen, and qat-chewing is not restricted only to wealthy urban individuals anymore, as it has extended to include the middle social classes, which is one of the factors behind the widespread phenomenon of qat-chewing among women.
The closed women’s qat sessions are known for lack of necessity to reciprocate invitations, reciprocity being only voluntary. It is noticed that the chewing women are allowed to choose the company that they enjoy, preferably those of the same social status and of the interests close to theirs.
Also in this type of women’s qat session, described by Sana’anis as “Inter-socialization Sessions”, are individual sessions confined to a limited number of chewing women (about four to five women), primarily associated with enjoyment. In this type of session qat has a secondary role due to the multiple enjoyment, amusement and entertainment sources.
At the “inter-socialization” sessions, neither official nor traditional roles and functions of the “Tafrita” exist, since the aim of the guest is amusement and enjoyment, rather than association or practicing certain functions or roles. Therefore, attendants try to avoid debating serious topics. In addition, it is difficult to isolate oneself from one’s friends in order to indulge in individual contemplation, in which case it is hard to speak about the common psychological phases which a “model” qat assembly demonstrates.
Characteristics of Women’s Qat Sessions:
The anthropologist, Thomas Gerholm, in his analysis of the qat session, in its environment as the “city drama”, explained the significance of the social content and the social functions performed by women’s sessions.11 Within this context, we find that the social functions of women sessions, and the urban sessions in particular, are concentrated on certain social functions such as entertainment, social communication, and psychological functions such as proving oneself, escaping male domination and daily work pressures. This is different from men’s qat sessions, where the functions are multiple and different from one geographic area to another and from one type of session to another.
It is noticed that the qat sessions of the black races known as the “Akhdam” who come from the Tihama area, are made up exclusively of one class, and they do not participate in the qat sessions of other social classes.
Also, the age factor seems to be of essential significance in identifying the participants in women’s qat sessions. The closed qat sessions are often made up of girls in their twenties, while the traditional “Tafrita” sessions are made up of married women of many different ages.
As a summary, we can underline the main differences and similarities between these two major types of women’s qat sessions and the distinctive features of each of them, as shown in the comparison table below.
Interactions among women during the qat sessions of both types provide the opportunity for participation of all women. Thus, we can say that such sessions contribute considerably to women’s life from a psycho-sociological point of view, as they create social support and a place where a woman can find someone to listen to her and give her advice and caring guidance. In some cases, a woman can satisfy some of her needs such as the need for belonging and the need for communication with others in the qat session. The social environment sometimes leads to what sociologists call “functional idleness.”12 In her psychological study, Najat Al-Sa’im concluded that “by going to qat-chewing sessions, women accomplish self-realization and self-assurance because there are still many impediments that face Yemeni women, depriving them of effective productivity, which leads to gaining a feeling of belonging through participation in the sessions.”13 The qat session performs its functions as a psychological group where the relations among the individuals in the group are very straightforward and improve the woman’s self-confidence and provide her with temporary satisfaction of her need of communicating with others and achieving self-security, in addition to enjoying herself, lessening her social burdens and avoiding frustration and the feeling of inferiority that she may experience in her environment.
To the extent that the qat session has become a central institution for the men’s community, it is also no less important to the women’s community. A woman’s life is restricted and has limited activities outside the home. These qat sessions are almost the only means for entertainment and amusement allowed for women outside their homes. This applies to the majority of the female population, except for a very small segment of women, who can not be considered a reliable sample.
In addition, there is a complete lack of means of entertainment and of cultural innovation opportunities for women. Even men’s activities are restricted to four main areas: their work, the market, the mosque and the qat session.
In conclusion, we can say that the women’s qat sessions represent an opportunity for self-expression and the broad social participation of women. For these reasons the women’s qat sessions have met with wide popularity within the female community and this system has begun to be incorporated into the social system of Yemen.
Footnote:
Due to the difficulty of attending the women’s qat sessions we relied, in this study, mainly, on the assistance of some female scholars from the Sociology Department and female informants who have attended such sessions. This is in addition to the past studies touching upon the same subject, especially the valuable study by the Yemeni scholar, Najat A-Sa’im published in “Al-thawabit” magazine, 8th issue, Jan.-Mar. 1997.
References:
1-“Akhdam”: A marginal social category of the Yemeni society having certain distinctive inherited features distinguishing them from the rest of the population and linking them to East Africa where it is believed they originated from. Due to certain unknown historical circumstances, they live on the margins of Yemeni society, occupying the lowest level of the social scale.
2-“Al-Wasi’y”, Abdul-Wasi’, Yemen History, named “Farhat Al-Humoum wlahuzn fi hawadeth al-Yemen” Yemen House for publishing, Sana’a, d.t. Page 136.
3-Kennedy John G., The Flower of Paradise: The institutionalized use of the drug qat in North Yemen, REIDEL Holland 1987, p. 156.
4-Hejazi Ezzat and others, Qat assembly: a social study, Sana’a University, Faculty of Arts, 1981, unpublished study, p. 1.
5-Makhlouf, Karla, Veil Change, London, 1979, p. 18.
6-Al-Jawhari, Ismail, Al-Sehah Taj Al-Lughah & Sehah Al-Arabiah, Beirut, Dar Al-Ilm Lilmalayeen 1985, p. 13.
7-Kennedy, J. op. cit, p. 157.
8-Makhlouf Karla, former reference, p. 23.
9-Sa’im, Najat Mohamed “Yemen Woman and Qat”, Al-Thawabit Magazine, 8th issue, Jan.-Mar. 1986, p. 160.
10-Shelagh, Weir, Qat in Yemen: Consumption and social change, British museum Publications, 1986, p. 110.
11-Gerholm T., Market, Mosque and Mafraj: Social inequality in Yemeni Town, University of Stockholm, 1977, p. 183.
12-Look: Sa’ad Jalal, Social Psychology, Qat, Younis University, Benghazi 1989, p. 351.
13-Sa’im, Najat Mohammed, former reference, p. 163.
Will It Be a Beginning Towards Marginalizing Women?
Imad Al-Saqqaf
Taiz Bureau Chief
Yemen Times
Undoubtedly, the crime that has taken place at the College of Medicine, Sana’a University has had negative social as well as psychological effects on society. It is painful to hear about such an end for girls who challenged all conventions and traditions of their society by going to study in university.
Women are still surrounded by a host of tyrannous conventions created by the society. Although they form about 52% of the total population of the Republic, they form the highest rate of illiteracy and ignorance. Worse of all is the fact that they are looked upon as servants for the males.
Statistics show that women’s education increased more during the last decade of the 20th century than that during the 1980s and 1970s. This has created more opportunities for women to play greater role in society. However, they are still victims of violence.
The resent crime in the College of Medicine has resulted in a wide social crack in society. Unless quick remedies are found, it is feared that ignorance might be imposed on Yemeni women on a large scale.
Our survey centered on the expected consequences of the bloody crime of the college of medicine on the education of Yemeni women. The survey included a number of girl university students, physiologists, sociologists and women’s unions in Sana’a and Taiz.
There has been a uninamity on the negative consequences of the crime on Yemeni women. However, many questions arouse: Why women are always the victims of violence in society? Why were they facing acts of killing and raping at a time they have already put their first steps into university education?
We met Roaida, student at the College of Medicine who said: “No doubt the crime will not only have its negative effects on Yemeni women and their education, but on society and their parents as well. I, as a student at the college which was the stage of the crime was shocked and I felt disappointed. I hope that this event will not be a beginning to draw the curtain of ignorance on Yemeni women who have made their first steps towards university education.”
“University has become a horror scene for me. I can not stay here alone.” Maimonah Ahmad Ghaleb, Taiz University said.
Amany Abdu Ghafour Al-Ariqi hoped that women could manage their affairs by themselves to develop and succeed. She deplored the sense of irresponsibility of people in charge of universities that made them disappointed.
“I had a psychological shock at the event which could have been avoided if a sense of responsibility was available with those people in charge,” said Ridha Abdul Wahhab from Taiz University.
Dr. Nabeel Al-Mikhlafy, associated professor at the Psychology department, Taiz university commented on the event by saying: “We were totally shocked at hearing about this heinous crime which was the first of its kind to happen in Yemen. In fact it is an abnormal crime that will lead parents to be more strict in regard with education of their daughters.”
“This crime is one of the strangest and the most violent crimes. A lot of rumors coincided with it which was a natural result in a such crime. The crime led to a certain kind of behavior which agree with the volume of the event. The worries resulted from the news on the crime require coming back to some conservation that society and families have abandoned when they felt more safe and stable.
As a reaction to this crime some girls discontinued their studies out of fear of similar events. Such situations are related to people’s expectations and fantasies about the crime.
In fact, worries are expected as a natural result of the crime, but they should not last for a long time. Parents and students themselves should be more realistic. Hopefully, the crimes are over and the murderer has been arrested and now he is trial. This is what makes us optimistic that feelings of fear and worries will gradually fade way among parents and students,” said Dr. Zaid Abdul Kareem Jaber, teacher of physiology, Sana’a University.
“However, two points are to be stressed,” he continued
“Firstly, there should be confidence in the security administration and administration authority. There might be some shortcomings, however, the government will not keep silent and will address them to avoid their occurrence again.
Secondly, people who work with equipment of killing, anatomy, etc. must be always supervised and examined. Those people might some day suffer some mental diseases that push them to behave in a different way. It is wrong to make one person responsible for a place like the morgue. There should be a team or a committee for that.
I hope that the fear among girl students will soon vanish in order to continue their studies and participate in the development the society,” he concluded.
Reem Al-Aghbary from the women’s union, Taiz said that the fear will go on unless the truth is revealed.
Najwa Ali Hazza’a criticized blaming all Sudanese for the event.
“Parents are very annoyed and they refused to let their daughters continue studying,” said Adlin Abdul Aalim, Taiz. However, Tahani Saeed from Taiz said that parents should have confidence in their daughters.
Nisreen Taher Haza’a laid the responsibility on the security guards at the college of medicine. She also said that the crime shocked people all over Yemen. “It was like a nightmare. Such a crime has not happened before in Yemen. This raises many eyebrows about the responsibility of security guards and people in charge of the college,” said Salwa Yahia Mansour, Taiz.
“I think that it’s a huge problem which should carefully be looked into. That crime should not have happened especially in a country like Yemen. It affected not only students but also teachers, demonstrators and everybody else. It should have affected them in a very negative way. Because what happened is something very aggressive and that should have been looked into very long go,” said Dr. Khawlah Kaid, Taiz. “I just hope and pray to God that the people in charge and in positions of responsibility will take greater care for their offices and to be aware of what’s happening in their faculties and how they are doing just more responsibility towards jobs,” she concluded.
” We and students felt very sorry for what has happened in Sana’a. I think this will determine the number of students enrolling at the faculty of Medicine. The criminal must be abnormal because what he did with those girls was something unspeakable.
I am patiently eager to know exactly what has happened. Female students said that the crime was against female education in Yemen. The incident will definitely affect the girls, ladies and their families,” said Abdul Salam Dail Amer, Taiz university. “I want to say that those policemen should not have neglected the demands and inquiries of parents of victims. However, they should have helped and investigated. They should consider it a lesson for future,” he continued.
Students are still exclaiming everywhere in Yemen. From the College of Sciences we met Zainab and Suad who said that they did not expect it from a teacher to rape and kill his students. They added that the crime had given execuses to families that are used not to allow their daughters to go to university to cling to their attitude towards university education. “Unfortunately, the event has worsened even the street attitude towards women. The word Sudanese is being used to tease us in the streets,” they added.
Sabah Abdul Majeed, Faculty of Information sees that the crime has completed the chains of violence against women. ” Woman is always the victim. She is the victim of the family, the society attitude towards her and violence. The crimes that have taken place at the college completed the chains of violence against her. I hope that this will not lead to keep women away from University,” she said.
Hibah Hassan Borji blamed the greater part of responsibility for the crimes on the victims’ parents who did not have confidence in their daughters. She also deplored the set of conventions and traditions that stood against the education of women.
As far as psychologists’ opinion are concerned, Dr. Hamoud Al-Awdi thought that the crime should be looked upon as an exception that should not affect our traditions as a Muslim society. “We should not let the crime affect the women’s education and their psychology nor we should let them crack our society. If this happens the crime will reach the goal that it might be committed to achieve,” he said. “We should trust and have confidence in Yemeni women and above all we should have confidence in ourselves,” he added.
All in all, the crime has also affected the girl students’ attitude towards Sudanese. Concerning this, Amal said that Sudanese should not be blamed for the behavior of an abnormal person who did not represent in a way or another the Sudanese Muslim society. She strongly criticizes conventions that make families refrain from looking for their daughters if they disappeared in vague circumstances.
WHAT NEXT?
The crime is not simple as some may think it is and its consequences might go beyond expectations. Parents have become more strict in regard with sending their daughters to the College of Medicine. This can be addressed by providing a suitable educational ground for women.
Today the victims were students, unless strict measures are taken to avoid occurrence of such an event you and I might have the same end.
To conclude confidence remains the most important thing that must dominate the future!
——
[archive-e:27-v:2000-y:2000-d:2000-07-03-p:./2000/iss27/culture.htm]
