The Disappearing State: The Triumph of Customary Law in Post-Unification Yemen

In Yemen, women have long struggled for their rights. Defined not as equal to men, but rather as a dependent, related to men. A woman is not only defined by her gender, but also as an extension to her male kin. This research is providing answers to the central research questions: how do these family laws affect women in Yemen? In addition, to what extent has the unification of Northern and Southern Yemen affected the changes that have taken place within the personal status law in Yemen? This research shows that the transformation of the legal code, from a civil Islamic law to a tribal customary law, led to major changes in the way that the law approaches women’s statuses in Yemen, such as the omission of an age limit for female brides and the reinforcement of male guardianship. The research is also providing answers to the following supplementary questions: (1) how the personal status law of the Republic of Yemen has affected Yemeni women? (2) Why do Yemeni women find themselves disadvantaged today compared to their status in recent history? (3) What social and political forces lay behind this legal shift and changed women’s status in Yemeni society? In this research I argue that Yemen’s current personal status laws are more deeply rooted in tribal customs than in the precepts of Islamic law. The deterioration of women’s status in Yemen is examined through an in-depth comparative and discourse analysis of Southern family law no 1/1974, the personal status law of the unified Yemen law no 20/1992, and its amendments no 24/1999.