Arwa Othman

Arwa Othman is a Yemeni writer, journalist, human rights activist and former Minister of Culture (2014–15) in the cabinet of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi. Human Rights Watch has cited Othman as one of the "most outspoken activists calling for human rights and gender equality" during the 2011 Yemeni Revolution.[1]

Career

Arwa Othman has headed the House of Folklore, a museum in Sana'a.[2][3] In 2013 she was appointed to the Yemeni National Dialogue Conference, where she headed the Rights and Freedom Committee.[4] Under her the committee recommended reforms for improving the lives of Yemeni women, making 18 the minimum age for marriage and action against people involved in the forced marriage of a child. In September 2013 she highlighted the case of an eight year old child bride who died of internal bleeding.[3] However, Othman's advocacy also brought her to the notice of orthodox sections of society, from whom she received death threats.[1]

Othman was one of the recipients of Human Rights Watch (HRW)'s Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism in 2014. She was honoured for her activism against child marriage and advocacy for gender equality.[5] She dedicated her award to the Jewish community residing in Yemen, her "brothers and friends from the Jewish community".[6][7]

In November 2014 Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi appointed Arwa Othman to the cabinet as Minister of Culture.[2] The cabinet was dissolved in January 2015.[8]

In 2017 she was among signatories condemning a wave of arrests of followers of the Baháʼí Faith in Yemen.[9]

References
  1. "Arwa Othman, Yemen". Human Rights Watch. 16 September 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  2. "Yemeni president brings Houthis into new government". Al Arabiya. 7 November 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  3. Elie, Janise (11 September 2013). "Yemeni child bride, eight, 'dies on wedding night'". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  4. Sadiki, Larbi (2014). Routledge Handbook of the Arab Spring: Rethinking Democratization. Routledge. p. 170. ISBN 978-1-317-65004-1.
  5. "Rights Activists Honored". Human Rights Watch. 16 September 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  6. "Yemen minister dedicates award to country's Jews". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 21 November 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  7. Stephanie Baric, Women and Democratic Transition in Yemen, Jerusalem Post, 18 February 2015.
  8. Nick Paton Walsh and Laura Smith-Spark, Yemen's President, Cabinet resign, CNN, 23 January 2015.
  9. Gary Nguyen, Number of Baha'i arrests in Yemen this month are alarming, World Religion News, 25 April 2017.


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