In countries like Yemen, many women suffer violent rape, physical and mental abuse.
In countries like Yemen, many women suffer violent rape, physical and mental abuse. With drug use and high rates of poverty, violence towards women is devastating the community – and they are far too terrified to report the abuse, fearing that the attacks will simply get worse. One woman told us how her husband threw her out of their house when she lost her breasts to cancer. With no way to support herself and her two children, she was forced to let her daughter get married at 10 years old, knowing it was the only way to provide for her. Until she came across Islamic Relief, mother and young son would go two to three days at a time without food, sometimes homeless – “we spent three days sleeping in a place with sheep”. We are re-educating and empowering women. In areas like Amran, Islamic Relief provides counselling and advice to women on their rights within Islam, and our workshops on gender violence from an Islamic perspective reach out to both men and women – uniting communities to tackle this horrific issue.