The cons of conflict

 THE CONS OF CONFLICT


- Daiemah Malik delineates


“My fist is in his mouth, his fist is in my eye”

- A Yemeni proverb.

The national anthem of Yemen pleads,

“My nation, give me strength, Oh source of strength

And save me for you, the best of nations.”

But what if I tell you this source of strength for over 28 million people is

falling apart and the worse hit are the 14 million pleaders who apparently

recognise as women. At present, Yemen ranks the lowest in the world at the

fulfilment index of the Sustainable Development Goal – 5: Gender equality.

Women, in general, have had a long history of prejudice across all cultures.

And their condition tends to worsen in times of wars, pandemics, insurgencies

and well, daily life. Reports suggest that the hazy cloud of the prevalent view of

“gender appropriate behavior” in Yemen is slowly clearing out but the fist in

your mouth has been inhaling this intoxicated air of violence from a long while

now and their misery is not just limited to experiencing the fists in their eyes.

Evidently, the screeching souls of survivors and sufferers often remains unheard

and awfully enough, unnoticed. The emotional and psychological trauma

caused cannot heal with mere promises. The fear of losing one’s existence at

the next bullet shot or perhaps a knock on the door is way beyond our

imagination.

It has been observed that the cries of abuse and abandonment have intensified in

the ongoing crisis of Yemen, just like the price of bread amongst other basic

commodities. Indeed, Poverty and the consequent food insecurity have been

observed to be the major contributing factor to the increasing inequalities and

worsening of the condition of women. It is needless to say that since time

immemorial the emotional and mental violence faced by women has remained

an understatement especially, in conflict prone areas. We tend to assume

whatever we can’t see with our naked eyes, does not exist. Ever since the

initiation of the conflict, the vulnerability of women to gender based violence

has intensified several folds- and its psychological implications have gone

unnoticed. What we need is to deploy experts with emotional first aid readily

available to anyone who needs them. Psychologists and therapists are a

necessity in such regions and we need to come up with a plan of action to help

the people. But with education and basic health in danger, how do you do this?


The Yemeni youth which is considered to be the torch bearers of their future is

suffering the most- with the prevalence of the worst humanitarian crisis and a

global pandemic their lives have come to a pause. Children, especially girls, are

being forced into child marriages in larger numbers than ever. The nation is

falling apart. It is no wonder that such incidences existed prior to the conflict as

well, but it has been proved that the conflict has invoked a spike in statistics and

it is likely, that the future will be worse off, if this remains unchecked. Sexual

and physical violence against women and children has increased and it is bound

to take a toll on their emotional and mental well being and we need to deploy

damage control right now, at this very moment, before we lose the source of

strength of another generation. Let Yemen rise.


SOURCES:-

1. https://yemen.un.org/en/15853-women-conflict-resolution-and-peacebuilding-yemen

2. https://www.unfpa.org/fr/node/13382

3. https://proverbicals.com/yemeni

4. https://www.rescue.org/article/4-ways-war-yemen-has-impacted-women-and-girls

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