Name and identifying details have been changed for privacy and protection.
Photography used for representational purposes only and the does not depict the story’s subject
My family and I fled from our home in a different governorate because of fighting and heavy shelling nearby. We are living in a small rented house.
My father suffered from a chronic disease that made him unable to work, and I became the breadwinner of my family. I worked at a store but the 1,500 Yemeni rials [about $1.50] I made each day didn’t cover our living expenses. We often ate only one meal a day. After the spread of the coronavirus, many businesses closed due to the quarantine, including the store where I worked. When my father was infected with COVID-19, his condition worsened quickly and he died soon afterward.
I tried very hard to find more work, but it was difficult. At the end of last year, when I was surfing the Internet on my mobile, I met someone who claimed to be an owner of a recruitment office. He promised that he would find a job at a good company for me.
“I thought of suicide so my reputation and that of my family would not be ruined.”
I started having feelings for him. He asked me to send him photos and videos of me not wearing a veil or abaya, which I did because I trusted him. He told me that he wanted to introduce me to the company’s manager and then asked me to go out with him for the job interview. It was then when I decided not to meet him or talk to him again, but he started threatening to publish the videos online.
Women here are covered in an abaya when going outside or engaging with the opposite sex, so to be seen dressed in a culturally inappropriate way would damage my reputation and that of my family. Others would think I was having an affair with him, which would be a scandal and a disgrace – I most likely would ruin my chances at ever getting married.
This photo contains sensitive content which some people may find offensive or disturbing
This photo contains sensitive content which some people may find offensive or disturbing
This photo contains sensitive content which some people may find offensive or disturbing
This photo contains sensitive content which some people may find offensive or disturbing
The man started blackmailing me. If I didn’t go out with him and his friends, if I didn’t give into his desires, he would post my photos and videos online. In Yemen, sex before wedlock is taboo. For three months, I lived in extreme fear and shock. If my family knew, they would kill me. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t think I would find an escape and even thought of suicide so my reputation and that of my family would not be ruined.
One day I happened to see a Facebook post on psychological and legal counselling offered by the Yemeni Women Union [supported by UNFPA]. I immediately called and explained everything to a legal counsellor. I also received psychosocial support, first by phone then in person at a women’s and girls’ safe space so that I could meet with a lawyer.
My lawyer was able to identify the man by tracing his phone number. When I went to the police station to report him, I found out he had been doing this to other women. He was arrested, imprisoned for a week. His phone was taken and all photos and videos were destroyed. He is to never do this again to anyone and is being watched by the criminal investigation office.
After my case was over, I continued going to the safe space, where I took life skills courses and learned to sew. After receiving an economic empowerment grant from the safe space, I started a tailoring business designing dresses and sewing face masks to help with the pandemic.
I am more careful now on social media – not everyone is on there to help for free. There is a cost for everything.
– UN Women
The UNFPA bodyright campaign declares that women and girls own their bodies and images of their bodies and have the right to decide if and how they’re shared. Learn more about bodyright and raise awareness about digital violence.
Know your bodyrights Know your bodyrights More actions to end digital violenceFor everybody
do more do moreFor technology companies
do better do betterFor lawmakers and law enforcement
do right do right
Do we need a copyright
symbol for human bodies? Raise awareness about digital violence.
A virtual world free of violence is possible. UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, supports the right of all women and girls to live without fear of gender-based violence or abuse in all spaces, including online. Everyone plays a role in making this more than a hope but a reality.
The UNFPA bodyright campaign declares that women and girls own their bodies and images of their bodies and sharing them in any form without their consent is a violation of their human rights, privacy, dignity and bodily autonomy.
Sign the UNFPA and Global Citizen bodyright petition calling on technology and content companies to give women’s and girls’ bodies the same protection and respect as a legal copyrighted entity. Share the bodyright symbol to show your support for the inalienable rights of women and girls.
Anyone who shares another’s intimate images without her consent – even if a sharer is not the original perpetrator – is committing violence against women. Let the disruption start with you. See people attacking, bullying or threatening someone online? Don’t join in. Post positive messages to counter the negative. Report the abuse to the technology platform. One cybermob attack survivor said she felt seen and supported by people who defended her.
SHARE SHAREUNFPA joined the World Wide Web Foundation in its call to Facebook, Google, TikTok and Twitter to prioritize the safety of women online, holding them to the pledges made to do so during the 2021 Generation Equality Forum in Paris. But there are many more platforms. In the words of Thorn, which works to end online child sexual abuse, “We won’t achieve the goal of building an Internet that is safe until every platform with an upload button has adopted proactive detection measures.”
SHARE SHAREAccording to the Economist Intelligence Unit, “In 64 of 86 countries, law enforcement agencies and courts appear to be failing to take appropriate corrective actions to address online violence against women.” Lawmakers need to recognize the pervasive and prevalent nature of the violence and support legislative and regulatory responses that meet the needs of women and girls, including creation and resourcing of independent monitoring and regulatory bodies. For example, Australia’s Office of the E-Safety Commissioner is serving as a model for countries such as Canada and the United Kingdom in addressing online safety. Seeking justice should not have to be another traumatizing experience.
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