Yemen’s Female Journalists Face Cleric-Led Harassment Campaigns
When journalist Hiba Al-Tabai's husband posted a photo of the newlywed couple on Facebook last November, she never imagined it would upend their lives.
Within hours of the seemingly innocuous post, Yemeni member of parliament and Muslim cleric Abdullah Al-Odini, who commands over 150,000 followers, condemned the image as "a violation of Islam and societal values.”
Students and supporters launched a coordinated harassment campaign that quickly went viral. Her own family soon joined the pursuit, threatening the couple with death under the pretext of "honor cleansing."
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The couple fled through friends’ homes, rural hideouts and eventually to Aden before escaping to Cairo, where they now live without work or stability, still fearing her family’s reach.
“To this day, I still feel unsafe, as if I am being watched, especially since we live in a densely Yemeni-populated area in Cairo,” Al-Tabai said. “Moreover, Al-Adini has not stopped inciting against us; he mentioned us again in a recorded sermon in July 2025 to stir public opinion.”
Her ordeal is part of a misogynist pattern that has plagued the country’s female journalists. A 2025 report by the International Journalism Federation shows that 60 percent of female journalists in Yemen experience gender-based violence and harassment online, while 63 percent conceal their identities when posting content. An overwhelming 93 percent report constant worry about digital threats.
Dozens of Yemeni female journalists face similar attacks.
Ahad Yassin, appearing on Al-Jumhuriya TV without a hijab, was targeted in a campaign by Al-Odini, who called her uncovered head and legs “shocking” and described it as “the devil’s steps.”
Al-Odini, in a post on social media, accused Yassin of not “respecting the constants and morals of the Yemeni people,” considering her outfit a violation of Sharia, and called for her prosecution.
Other clerics and parliamentarians joined, including Mohammed Al-Hazmi, who described her appearance as "reprehensible,” and Rassin Alrassin, Professor of Arabic at Sana’a University, who called her “shameless,” with those who supported her “lacking honor.”
“Yes, she violated Sharia,” Alrassin told Religion Unplugged. “I called on her to respect … the customs and traditions of conservative Yemeni Muslim society. There is no incitement.”
Yassin's social media accounts were flooded with death threats.
“I received many threatening messages on my private accounts, mostly death threats,” she said. “My work and income were put at risk because of this campaign and the demands from clerics to have me suspended.”
Years earlier, she had fled Yemen to Cairo after a campaign targeted her involvement in a cultural club in Aden, the aftermath of which resulted in her friend’s death.
“The biggest disaster is that this incitement comes from parliamentarians who are lawmakers under the constitution,” she said. “They use religious rhetoric against me, mobilizing the entire Yemeni public simply because of their positions as parliamentarians.”
In a country where journalism has become one of the most dangerous professions, the cost has fallen disproportionately on women, who make up less than 20% of the media workforce. Men dominate the remaining 80%.
Women account for just 11% of Yemen's Journalists' Syndicate, with roughly 170 female members among some 1,500 total.
The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate condemned the incitement against Yassin as “a direct threat to female journalists and their right to work freely and safely,” urging authorities to investigate and stop Al-Odini’s systematic incitement.
Fatima Motahar, head of the Activity Committee at the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate, told Religion Unplugged that “over the past six months, [they have been] working on mechanisms to protect female journalists from gender-based violence.”
Zakaria Al-Hossami, media officer at Women Journalists Without Chains, said that in Yemen, “this is not mere verbal incitement. It can lead to physical assault.”
She added that despite recurring violations, these cases rarely lead to accountability. Political and religious influence, weak judicial independence, and a lack of protection create near-total impunity. Perpetrators often enjoy de facto immunity, and many female journalists hesitate to go to court for fear of escalation or defamation.
Other Yemeni women journalists, including Amal Ali, Afnan Tourkar, Aya Khaled and Wediyan Hadi, have endured similar targeting over personal photos or private occasions.
Olfat Aldobui, sociology professor at Taiz University and member of the Consultation and Reconciliation Commission supporting the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, was repeatedly targeted by Al-Odini for her activism. She is the only woman who filed a lawsuit, though parliamentary immunity hindered accountability.
Aldobui said Al-Odini “led several previous incitement campaigns through his sermons and Facebook page,” which she countered with her posts.
A year ago, after posting about Yemen’s need for theaters and cinemas, he attacked her in a sermon, accusing her of “corrupting Muslim morals” and condemning her call to open theaters and cinemas.
She requested that the Yemeni Parliament lift Al-Odini’s immunity, but “no one addressed my request.”
She said that she then filed a personal complaint with the Public Prosecutor, alleging that he incited violence against her from the pulpit, putting her at risk.
The case was investigated, referred to the Minister of Justice, and sent to the parliament speaker, who did not respond, citing parliament’s inability to convene, “even though the law stipulates that the speaker must decide the case if parliament cannot convene,” she said.
Aldobui said she believes there is “negligence regarding Al-Odini’s incitement campaigns,” adding, “After a full year of following the case and reaching the parliament speaker, he presented himself as a social reformer asking me to forgive and waive my complaint.”
She said if parliament had acted, “we could have silenced such figures, letting other clerics know they are not immune from accountability.”
“Do not remain silent in the face of any incitement,” she added, calling on the international community and civil society to pressure for laws protecting women and journalists.
This article is produced in collaboration with Egab.
Ibrahim Abdullah is a journalist who covers the Middle East.