In secret prisons, terrifying stories unfold about the violations faced by women in Yemen at the hands of a group known as the “Zainabiya,” affiliated with the Houthis, who control vast areas of the country.
Victims have endured harrowing forms of psychological and physical torture, as revealed in testimonies from survivors collected by human rights organizations within the Justice for Yemen Pact Coalition, which monitors violations in the country.
The accounts detail horrific conditions, including women being forced to stand motionless for hours or sleep on cold, hard floors without bedding or covers, as the anguished screams of other detainees echo from nearby cells. Some survivors also reported instances of sexual harassment.
The Houthi group’s creation of the female “Zainabiya” brigade exemplifies a deliberate tool of oppression and terror targeting Yemeni women, with its primary focus on recruitment.
A source within the Coalition revealed that the Zainabiya brigade operates as part of the Houthi intelligence network, tasked primarily with recruiting women and coercing them into roles aimed at entrapping political opponents. This strategy may explain the shifting allegiances of some activists and politicians who previously opposed the Houthis but now align with them.
The Zainabiya brigade operates discreetly, infiltrating society to collect intelligence and assert control. Their activities are particularly prevalent in key sectors like higher education, where they target female students to suppress freedoms and enforce restrictions.
Their work, however, extends far beyond espionage and surveillance. The Zainabiya brigade has been implicated in arbitrary detention as well as acts of severe physical and psychological torture, further cementing its role as a mechanism of fear and repression.
This women’s brigade has been modeled after similar units in Iran, designed to apply a repressive strategy aimed at silencing dissent and instilling fear and submission among women across Yemeni society, according to human rights experts within the Coalition.
Yemeni lawyer and human rights activist Huda Al-Sarari, who is also the head of the organization Defense for Rights and Freedoms and the recipient of the 2020 Martin Ennals Award for human rights defenders, explains that the Houthi militias established the Zainabiya brigade in a manner akin to Iran’s Fatimiyya group.
She adds that some Zainabiya leaders have undergone training in Iran, and that the process of recruiting women in Houthi-controlled areas has begun.
Surveillance and Intimidation
According to student testimonies, the Zainabiya intervene in their personal lives, preventing them from expressing their political opinions or wearing any national symbols.
One student testified to the Coalition, stating: “The Zainabiya monitor us and restrict our movements during national events, even detaining female students who raise the Yemeni flag and taking them to security centers for interrogation.”
Another student shared a harrowing account documented by the Coalition: “We were celebrating Unity Day when a group of Zainabiya suddenly arrived to search the female students’ dormitory at a private university in Sana’a. They took one of our friends because she had painted the Yemeni flag on her face, beating her in the bathroom in front of us.”
A third student, in her testimony to the Coalition, expressed daily fear of the Zainabiya, stating: “They would monitor us constantly, even in our dormitories, ensuring we didn’t engage in any activities that contradicted Houthi policies.”
Sonya: A Tale in Dark Corridors
One day in March 2019, Sonya Saleh stood at a gas station in Sana’a, unaware that this seemingly ordinary day would change her life forever. Without warning, two Houthi vehicles arrived, and armed soldiers quickly surrounded her, leaving no room for thought or escape.
She was pulled from her car and taken to the National Security building, beginning her horrifying journey of detention. Sonya was held in a narrow cell known as “Al-Daghata.” In this dark room, she was subjected to various forms of torture at the hands of the Zainabiya.
The Zainabiya used both physical and psychological torture methods, such as spraying cold water on her and then electrocuting her. Sonya was forced to stand for long hours, sometimes with her wrists and ankles bound with metal that kept her back arched at all times, leaving physical and psychological scars.
Sonya recounts: “They kept me locked in this dark place, with no sun or air, and they said that I would not get out until I confessed.”
Sonya was subjected to ongoing torture, not only to her body but also targeting her psyche. During her time in Al-Daghata, she could hear the screams of women from adjacent rooms, which deepened her feelings of horror and fear.
“What hurt me the most was hearing the voices of women being tortured, which made me live in endless nightmares even after my release,” she said.
This psychological torment was a deliberate tactic by the Houthis to intimidate detainees and break their resolve, compelling them to confess to crimes they never committed.
Sonya was coerced into signing false confessions under threats of even more brutal torture. To further crush her spirit, her captors resorted to unimaginable cruelty, pulling out her nails one by one in relentless efforts to force her into collaboration.
Sonya states: “They told me that death is better than this life, and that I should confess to anything they said.”
As time passed, Sonya’s family began searching for her everywhere and sought the intervention of tribal leaders, which compelled the Houthis to negotiate her release.
Through these mediations, and with a ransom of 15 million Yemeni riyals paid by her family, the Houthis agreed to release her.
However, the scars of torture continued to haunt her both mentally and physically, and every night she would remember the nightmares of torture and the images of other women who suffered alongside her in those dark cells.
Sonya found herself under heavy surveillance and threat. After numerous attempts, she managed to escape from Yemen, heading to Cairo, where she has settled since 2020.
Bardis: Searching for Death to Escape Torture
The story of the poet Bardis Al-Sayegh is one of the most horrifying accounts of the violations faced by intellectuals in Yemen. Her oppositional posts on social media were enough to make her a target of the Houthis.
In a journey of arrest and torture that surpasses all imaginations, Bardis faced painful suffering at the hands of the Zainabiya, who used the harshest methods of intimidation and torture against her in an attempt to silence her voice forever, according to the testimony she provided to the Coalition.
On the dawn of August 2, 2019, a group of Houthi gunmen stormed Bardis’s home in Sana’a, accompanied by 12 members of the Zainabiya. The raid was violent, as Bardis was dragged in front of her family and children, who stood helplessly in shock.
Bardis recalls those moments, saying: “I wished for death; I felt completely powerless. I couldn’t defend myself or my children.”
After her abduction, the Houthis took her to an unknown location in Sana’a, where she found herself in a narrow, dark cell filled with insects and without any source of air or light.
Bardis knew she was in a secret place: “Everything was ready—the charges and the files; all they wanted was for me to sit and confess to anything they said.” She was subjected to repeated beatings and electric shocks until she reached a point where she could no longer stand or walk.
The Houthis exploited the deeply conservative nature of Yemeni society as a means to further torment Bardis. They threatened her with social disgrace, vowing to release her personal photo to damage her reputation if she refused to confess to the fabricated charges they had imposed on her. These accusations, including “betraying the homeland and collaborating with coalition forces,” were designed to isolate and humiliate her within her community.
When she refused to confess, the torture intensified.
Bardis stated: “They used electric shocks, leaving my hands paralyzed; I screamed from the pain, but they never stopped.”
Bardis’s torture went far beyond electric shocks. She endured severe beatings, with blows to her head and face that left her right eye gouged and her nose broken. “They thought I was faking it, even as I bled from my head, nose, and mouth all at once,” she recounts.
At one point, Bardis attempted a hunger strike, refusing food for three days, choosing death over enduring more agony. Yet her captors remained relentless, continuing to torture her until she came to the grim realization that dying in that prison would not come easily.
After three months of relentless torment, the Houthis released her under stringent conditions: she was forbidden from publishing any oppositional content or speaking about the horrors she endured. Her release came only after tribal negotiations and appeals from human rights organizations.
Though she agreed to the conditions outwardly, Bardis secretly planned her escape. Eventually, she fled Yemen, finding refuge in Egypt. There, she is attempting to rebuild her life, far from the shadow of her past, and away from the public eye.
Notorious Prisons
The Zainabiya employ various recruitment methods in Yemen, as documented by the Coalition. Women are lured through threats or false promises of positions and privileges. In some instances, women are threatened with assassination if they refuse to join.
Some victims accept working with the Houthis out of fear for their lives or the lives of their loved ones. However, joining this group marks the beginning of further suffering, as victims are compelled to spy on their families and neighbors, reporting any activity deemed suspicious or opposing the Houthis.
The notorious secret prisons run by the Zainabiya are among places that witness horrific violations, where women are held in narrow, dark cells, according to the Coalition. Women detained in these prisons endure both psychological and physical torture. One survivor told the Coalition: “The Zainabiya would hurl obscene insults at us and suddenly open our cells at night just to frighten us.”
Human rights reports document that the Zainabiya do not stop at arbitrary arrests but employ psychological torment tactics, such as forcing women to stand for long hours or prohibiting them from sitting during interrogations.
One survivor recounted her experience to the Coalition: “They used electric shocks, and we could hear the screams of other women from neighboring cells, as though they derived pleasure from our suffering.”
Asmahan, a 36-year-old Yemeni doctor, faced pressure and threats from the Houthis simply because she refused to attend lectures promoting their ideology in government hospitals. After being summoned by a Houthi supervisor and declining to adopt their beliefs, she was forcibly taken to one of their sessions by two Zainabiya members. On her way home, three armed men intercepted her, beat her, and abducted her to an undisclosed location.
In a secret prison, Asmahan was subjected to brutal torture, including beatings, electric shocks, and even sexual assault. Her ordeal lasted an entire month, during which she became pregnant as a result of the abuse. She later underwent an abortion with the help of her sister.
Asmahan was eventually released and, with the assistance of human rights organizations, managed to escape Yemen, finding refuge in Cairo and safety from the Houthis’ grip.
Meanwhile, Yasmin and Souad, both 14 years old, were detained solely due to their fathers’ professions—Yasmin’s father being a journalist and Souad’s father working in another field.
The girls were held in secret prisons and subjected to physical and psychological torture, including beatings and threats of sexual assault. They were forced to confess to crimes they did not commit and endured immense mental anguish. Although they were released, the traumatic experiences left them deeply scarred, continuing to struggle with severe psychological repercussions.
Sexual Harassment
One of the most egregious forms of violations that women face at the hands of the Zainabiya in prisons is sexual assault, where harassment and intimidation tactics are employed to force them into confessions.
One survivor described how she was sexually harassed and physically assaulted in her cell, telling the Coalition: “I never expected to encounter such brutality, or for them to have the audacity to do that. We were trapped in their hands, and we couldn’t do anything.”
She added, “I felt afraid to speak or complain because I knew they might punish me even for thinking about it.”
Another survivor recounted to the Coalition her experience of harassment and physical abuse within her small cell, leaving her feeling utterly powerless.
The use of sexual harassment also serves as a means of coercion against women, as they are blackmailed with personal photos or video recordings to compel them to cooperate with the Houthis, as documented by the Coalition.
Shocking Statistics
Human rights reports have documented 1,181 cases of women being detained in Houthi prisons, along with 274 cases of enforced disappearance and 71 cases of rape. The reports also mention four cases of suicide among women who experienced severe psychological pressure within Houthi prisons.
According to a report issued by the Human Rights Information and Training Center (HRITC), Sana’a alone has over 200 secret detention sites run by the Houthis, including national security prisons, political security prisons, and secret residences. The estimated number of detainees and those forcibly disappeared in Houthi prisons is around 1,400, concentrated in Sana’a, Dhamar, Amran, Al-Mahwit, and Hajjah.
The ages of women subjected to assaults in these prisons range from 14 to 60, with the sexual violence inflicted upon them often carried out using brutal methods.
Nora Al-Jarwi, head of the Association for the Protection of Victimized and Survivor Women, has documented over 100 cases of female arrest and torture in Houthi secret prisons. These include 27 cases of rape and instances of genital mutilation.
Al-Jarwi, who also serves as president of the Coalition of Women for Peace in Yemen, explains that the Houthis target women in a retaliatory manner, escalating beyond physical and psychological abuse to directly attack their dignity and honor. This has created an unprecedented crisis in the history of women’s rights violations in Yemen.
Despite this, the international response remains limited, restricted to human rights reports and calls for accountability for the perpetrators.
The stories of survivors, such as Sonya, Badris, Asmahan, Yasmin, and Suad, stand as evidence of the extent of oppression and violations faced by women in Yemen, who are suffering under the weight of armed conflict, while the perpetrators remain unpunished to this day.
Justice4Yemen Pact Coalition would like to acknowledge that this article draws on valuable insights and information from a report previously published by the Humanitarian Journalism Foundation. Their thorough analysis has significantly contributed to understanding the human rights situation in Yemen. We deeply appreciate their efforts and commitment to highlighting these critical issues.
