Yemen: About 14,000 women, children victims of 8 years of aggression

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On the occasion of International Human Rights Day, the Entesaf Organization for Women and Children's Rights reported that the number of children and women victims of the US-Saudi aggression in eight years has exceeded 13,437.

"Yemeni children and women are killed and their rights violated as a result of the aggression and the siege imposed by the aggression under international and international cover, as all laws and charters launched by the nations have fallen in Yemen," Entesaf indicated.

"The United Nations has no longer played any role in preserving even a small part of the rights of women and children in Yemen," the human rights organization considered.

According to Entesaf, 2,436 women and 3,876 children were killed as a result of the aggression, while 2,862 women and 4,263 children were injured.

It pointed out that the number of displaced Yemenis rose to 5,159,560 until the end of August 2022, including 740,122 families. The statistics show that half of the displaced are women, 27% of whom are under the age of 18.

The report explained that "with the lack of shelter options available, displaced women and girls suffer the most due to the lack of privacy, the threat to their safety, and the lack of access to basic services, which makes them more vulnerable to violence and abuse."

It added that one out of every three displaced families is headed by women, and the girls who support 21% of these families are under the age of 18.

60,000 women have lost their husbands, and the number of families headed by women at the level of Yemen has reached 417,000 families, a UN report showed.

The Entesaf report highlighted that the Saudi coalition committed 695 violations on the western coast, including 132 rape crimes and 56 kidnapping crimes, while it committed 443 rape crimes in Aden.

2,400,000 Yemeni children deprived of education

On the education side, the organization said there are approximately 6.1 million male and female students who suffer from the collapse of the education system, and approximately 3,500 schools are either destroyed or damaged, noting that 2,400,000 children are deprived of education, while the number of children who face interruption from education may rise to six million.

Elsewhere, the report explained that the aggression deprived women of the right to education as a result of targeting educational facilities, imposing an economic blockade, and not paying salaries, leaving 31% of Yemeni girls without an education.

6,000 people disabled as a result of armed hostilities

According to the statement, the number of individuals suffering from disabilities has increased from three million before the aggression to 4.5 million recently, and about 6,000 people have been disabled as a result of armed hostilities since the start of the aggression, including approximately 5,559 children.

Since the truce took effect on April 2, 4,000 civilians were affected, including about 131 children, of whom 25 were killed, and 26 women, of whom four were killed as a result of mines, cluster bombs, and remnants of the aggression, the organization noted.

Entesaf pointed to the expansion of the child labor phenomenon during the war "by more than four times what it was previously," noting that 1.4 million working children are deprived of their most basic rights and about 34.3% of Yemeni children between 5 and 17 work.

More than 80 newborns die every day

Healthwise, the report underlined that public and private hospitals throughout Yemen are threatened with closure during the next few days due to the blockade imposed by the Saudi coalition and detaining oil derivative ships.

"The blockade has led to an increase in malnutrition rates, as more than 2.3 million children under the age of five suffer from malnutrition and 632,000 children suffer from severe acute malnutrition that threatens their lives during the current year," the report explained, adding that more than 1.5 million pregnant and breastfeeding women suffer from malnutrition, of which 650,495 women are moderately malnourished.

According to Entesaf, while a woman and six newborns die every two hours due to complications during pregnancy or childbirth, the number of women who may lose their lives during the same cases is estimated at approximately 17,000.

The report explained that approximately 70% of obstetric medicines are not available in Yemen due to the Saudi coalition blockade, highlighting that more than 80 newborns die every day because of the internationally prohibited weapons used.

It also noted that this is one of the reasons for the high number of preterm infants, as 39% of newborns every year are born preterm.

"More than 5,000 patients with kidney failure are at risk of death, while the number of people with cancer has reached 35,000, including more than 1,000 children," the report warned.

Entesaf held the US-Saudi coalition "responsible for all crimes and violations against civilians, especially women and children, over a period of eight years," calling on the international community, international organizations, and humanitarian bodies to "bear legal and humanitarian responsibility for the violations and heinous massacres that occur against civilians."

The organization also called on "the free people of the world to take effective and positive action to stop the aggression and protect civilians, to form an independent international commission to investigate all crimes committed against the Yemeni people, and to hold accountable all those found involved in them."