List of prohibitions expands: Houthis violate most basic rights of women and students in Yemen

More violations are being practiced by the Houthis against schools, universities, markets and even wedding halls in Yemen. The militia has tightened its restrictions in the various areas under its control and has recently sought to install militia members as guardians of virtue over the morals of Yemeni society under various names.

In this regard, the Houthi militia has devised several methods to restrict the freedoms of civilians, especially girls.

Banning phones and makeup for girls

Recently, the Houthi militia prevented girls in the districts of Kahlan Afar and Shaghader and the villages of Abs, Bait Al-Husnain, Marwa and Al-Rataah in Hajjah Governorate in the north from using mobile phones, claiming that it allows women to access pornographic websites, according to the Alyemen Online website.

Houthi militia members also threatened to impose financial penalties and pay a cow to anyone who proves that his wife, sister or relative has a mobile phone.

In Sanaa and all the governorates under the control of the Houthis, the militia recruited young men and women in universities, schools and wedding halls, where they deliberately restricted women’s use of cosmetics when attending wedding parties.

Burning women's clothes

According to the Saba News Agency, the Houthi militia recently confiscated the sewing belts worn by young women over abayas and dresses, and launched a barbaric campaign to destroy mannequins displaying clothes, claiming that they were indecent.

The militia also launched a campaign to burn pictures of women's underwear collected from Sanaa markets, where the campaign at the time met with a wave of widespread public ridicule.

According to a statement from the legitimate Yemeni government, the militia’s so-called “morality police” recently burned a large number of women's gowns in more than one store, claiming that they were vulgar clothes.

Harassment of school and university students

As for school and university students, the Houthis’ harassment has prevented them from wearing tight clothes, and the militia has banned graduation ceremonies and festivals on the pretext that they encourage mixing of genders and immorality.

Even imported songs and clothes have been banned due to the militia’s claim that they contradict Yemeni traditions. Even different types of food sold in university restaurants, such as pizza and hamburgers, have been banned due to being considered Western foods.

The latest incidents that provoked public anger were the imposition of harsh penalties against the Manarat Sanaa National School in Amanat Al-Asimah, which included the dismissal of the school director and the transfer of the school to teach males only, and from the English section to Arabic.

The Manarat Sanaa National School held an International Day event last November, which is held in most schools and universities to introduce the cultures and customs of peoples. The program of the event included a paragraph about introducing Arab folk costumes, which the Houthi militia saw as contradicting what it calls the alleged faith identity.