Women’s Rights And Their Political Participation In Republic Of Yemen

As a result of the growing interest in human rights in general and women’s rights inparticular, and in view of the role played by Yemeni women and their effort with men invarious fields of life, so it was necessary to study explore the women’s rights and theirpolitical participation from the perspective of Islamic law and to shed light on the democraticsystem in Republic of Yemen and its role in promoting the women’s rights and their politicalparticipation.Because of the rate of participation of Yemeni women in political life is still very small, itis important to know what the positions of Islamic law and democratic system are onwomen’s rights and their political participation, and the factors that disrupt the rights andpolitical participation for Yemeni women.Firstly, the study provides an introduction and historical background on human andwomen’s rights and their evolution. It also covers human and women’s right in ancientcivilizations, such as Greek and Roman civilizations and pre-Islamic era, and in ancientreligions such as Judaism and Christianity.After an overview of the historical background on women’s rights, the study provides adetailed description of the significance and methodology of the study with the statement ofthe problem and the main objectives of the study.Secondly, the study discusses about human rights in Islamic law and its position onwomen’s rights and their political participation, including the role of the democracy onpromoting the women’s rights and their political participation. It reviews the rights andpolitical participation of Yemeni women and their actual reality, then it analyses the factorsthat disrupt Yemeni women’s rights and their political participation.Thirdly, The study concluded that;-The Islam honors women and give them the rights to participate in all areas of public andprivate life and freedoms that did not get in any era from eras and in any civilization fromcivilizations. -There is no explicit text in Islamic law prevents women from exercising politicalparticipation and rights, such as voting, nomination, and taking the top positions in the state,all arrived to us is for the views of scientists and scholars.-The democracy in Yemen appeared clearly after achieving unification of Yemen in22May1990.-Yemeni constitution treats women and men equal in all social, political, civil, economicand cultural rights, and there is no texts that differentiate women and men in all rights andduties in Yemeni law, but it is still theory texts and ink on papers.-The rate of women’s participation in elections increased but the rate of women’sparticipation in the nomination for membership of the council of representatives and localcouncils and the presidency of the republic was low.-The participation of women in leadership positions and decision-making in the state inpolitical parties was low.-The Yemeni constitution and the electoral law has encouraged women to exercise theirright to vote, but did not encourage them to exercise the right of nomination.Finally, this study recommends and suggests the following:The most important recommendations:-Establishment of religious orientation is fair and non-biased and far from the malefanaticism, its mission issuing legitimacy fatwas that relate to women and their participationin the various fields of public and private life.-Work on the application of quota system for women within political parties and duringthe general elections in the country in order to facilitate the social change in society andaccept women in decision-making places.-Raising the level of education of Yemeni women so that they be aware of their rights andtheir duties and in order not to remain dependent on some one to claim their rights. -Provision of the employment opportunities for women and the elimination ofdiscrimination against women in promotion and participation in management and decision-making, training and rehabilitation.Suggestion is conducting the following studies;-Study describes the reasons that prevent women from engaging in certain activities in thepolitical, social and economic fields under Islamic law.-Study compares the system of governance in the Arab Republic of Yemen and in theDemocratic Republic of Yemen and the contribution of these systems in the granting ofwomen’s rights and their political participation-An analytical study for electoral law, to identify deficiencies in supporting women’spolitical participation.-Study on women’s contribution in the success of Yemeni revolution...