March is Women's History Month, dedicated to remembering how history is our strength, but achievements by women today fighting oppressive governments also show our courage and strength to unite communities and nations.
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh faces an incredible and some say unlikely opponent: A movement to unseat him led by Tawakkul Karman, who has been fighting for human rights and freedom of expression. Her idols include Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela.
You might notice a sea of pink color used by the protesters. Colors have been used to signify the escalating stages of protest, commencing with purple and then switching to pink to represent love and peaceful protests.
This is the change that Karman seeks in Yemen, a nonviolent revolution in a country where women are second-class citizens:
Most women here are not free to marry whom they want; many are married off as children. In court, their testimonies are worth half those of men. When women are murdered, their families are compensated at half the amount they would receive for male victims. They are also treated unequally in matters of inheritance. Violence against women is rife, human rights activists say.
A life where there is essentially no representation in government that far from recognizing their human rights, abuses women and girls:
Yemeni parliamentarians (one out of 301 is a woman) still have not agreed on a law to set a minimum age for marriage to prevent girls like Nujood, nine years old at the time of her divorce, from being married before they finish school. Illiteracy among women is still a whopping 67 percent, women are typically the first victims of food shortage (one in three Yemenis suffers from severe malnutrition, according to the United Nations), and many have difficult and limited access to health care. Women’s participation in politics is still minimal and, despite two female ministers, Yemen has consistently ranked bottom in the Global Gender Gap Index since it was first included in the ranking in 2006.
It is the women who have moved past the social restrictions to remain at home away from public life to become the driving force to keep the protests alive.
"Women played and continue to play an integral part in the uprisings and revolutions in the region, and what is key is that they are there, physically present in the streets, showing their numbers," said Nadim Houry, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch.
…In T-shirts and jeans or long black robes and veils, tens of thousands of women have made their voices heard in the streets, from Tunis to Cairo, from Manama to Sanaa, to demand reform in a region long ruled by autocracies.
Karman is a 32-year old mother of three and chair of Women Journalists Without Chains, an organization devoted to defending human rights and freedom of expression. She is an eloquent, passionate speaker who has the skills to convey clear and inspirational messages:
"We are suffering from a ruler who tries to control the country with constitutional amendments that will change Yemen into a monarchy," she tells TIME. Yemen, like Tunisia and Egypt, she adds, needs an end to a dictatorship in the guise of a presidency. Indeed, Ali Abdullah Saleh has been in power since 1978 — one year longer than Mubarak. "The combination of a dictatorship, corruption, poverty and unemployment has created this revolution," she says. "It's like a volcano. Injustice and corruption are exploding while opportunities for a good life are coming to an end."
Like so many other governments, President Saleh ignores the many crises faced by the 23 million citizens of Yemen:
More than 5 million Yemenis live in poverty, and nearly half are illiterate. Oil is scarce, and water reserves are declining (it's an often repeated statistic that Yemen will be the first country in the world to run out of water, sometime around 2025 at current rates of consumption). Yet the government seems unable, or unwilling, to address the fundamental problems of the people, says Karman.
Karman says that watching the dictators in Tunisia and Egypt fall, and using the same methods of social media have been beneficial. They have used Facebook and Twitter to organize protests as well as paper flyers. al-Jazeera coverage has also encouraged Yemenis to protest because they know the world is watching.
The day after Ben Ali fled Tunisia in mid January, Karman organized protests against Saleh by using Facebook and cellphone text messages. The government responded by arresting her in the middle of the night:
On the night of Jan. 23, Yemeni security officers arrested Karman and threw her in prison on charges of illegally organizing demonstrations and inciting people against the president. That triggered protests on the streets and more calls for regime change. The government freed Karman after 38 hours, saying that her family promised to restrain her.
It was the women and other protesters demanding her release that enabled her freedom. (Please watch video at link to see the women hit the streets in her name.)
The next month after her arrest, President Saleh personally threatened her life with a message he sent by her brother:
Two weeks ago [in a February 2011 report], Karman's brother Tareq approached her. A well-known poet, he personally knew Saleh, and he was carrying a message from him.
" 'You have to control your sister. Anyone who doesn't obey me must be killed,' he told my brother," said Karman. "This is the one threat I take seriously."
Fortunately, when a pro-government mob tried to kill her with knives and sticks in a February rally, her supporters protected her.
Each day they risk their lives: The men and the women and their families, friends and loved ones. Today, we learned about the loss of Muhanned O. Bensadik, a member of Meteor Blades's family who died fighting in Libya.
Each life is so precious, each contribution to these fights so vital.
Here are some videos of their revolution: Hear their voices, see their faces.
This video shows thousands of people filling the streets in anti-government protests in first week of March:
al Jazeera English video from March 8 of security forces that fired tear gas and shot protesters while opposition boycott parliament and resign due to brutal treatment by government of protesters:
al Jazeera English video from March 12 where government opened fire on protesters and attacked with water canons and gas. Doctors treating the protesters said it was nerve gas, which government denies.
If you want to let Saleh know we are watching him, here is his address and fax number:
His Excellency Ali Abdullah Saleh
Office of the President of the Republic of Yemen
Sana’a
Republic of Yemen
Fax: +967 1 274 147
Salutation: Your Excellency