Houthis use all-female militias to suppress Yemeni women

Houthi militias celebrated the graduation of a new an all-female battalion, as part of the so-called “Zeinabs”, whose main task is to suppress political anti-Houthi movements by Yemeni females.

The new battalion was named “al-Zahra’a”, led by Ishraq al-Shami. The new graduates were given light arms and stun guns, to be used in combatting female demonstrators in the streets of Sana’a.

Assistant-Secretary General of the General People’s Congress (GPC) for NGO’S, Faeqah Ba-Alawy, said in a tweet that large groups of armed women called “Zeinabs” are now “breaking into houses in Sana’a, searching women, and scaring our people, under the protection of the armored vehicles of the Houthis, who do not think it would be enough to arrest men, kidnap children and hang a number of citizens.”

The “Zeinabs” battalions are all-female armed militias that emerged in Sana’a after the Houthis had taken over the capital on September 21, 2014. They are a version of the Iranian experiment in recruiting females and forcing them to work for the realization of the objectives of their group.

The name”Zeinabs” relates these units to Zeinab, sister of Imam Hussein bin Aly, who witnessed the battle of Karbala with him. Some scholars think the name of the battalions refer to Zeinab, the daughter of the Prophet (pbuh), while others insist that it is the name of Zeinab bint Ali. Be that what it may, the purpose is to use religious symbols for political ends.

“Zeinabs” in Yemen don Yemeni female clothes, consisting of an overcoat and a niqab (covering up their face). They shout Houthi slogans, screaming in a way characteristic of that militia. They are not part of the female police force.

According to reports from Yemen, the number of “Zeinabs” is a little over 500, trained by Iranian military experts, in the stronghold of Houthis in Sa’ada, on the use of weapons and land mines and also on breaking into residential areas and suppressing demonstrations. They pay special attention to inspecting cellular phones and electronic equipment, monitoring electronic communications, in addition to attacking peaceful demonstrations and sit-ins.

Ex-member of the Political Council of the Houthis, Ali al- Bekhiti, said that he was attacked by a number of female Houthis using wooden clubs, adding” my children were screaming, while we were being beaten up”. Al- Bekhiti also witnessed a number of mothers being beaten up, by the so-called “Zeinabs” because they organized a protest at the kidnapping of their sons, who work as journalists, by Houthi militias.

But most important of all was the role played by “Zeinabs” in chasing and arresting members of GPC, following the assassination of the late Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, on December 4, 2017. The”Zeinabs” suppressed women – demonstrators from GPC in the Sabein square calling for the handover of the dead body of Saleh.