Noora Al-Shami, a member of the NDC's Rights and Freedoms Working Group, said on Sunday that there exists a strong need in Yemen for legislation which guarantees rights for divorced women and their children.

Al-Shami said that she has lived in a male-dominated society in which women have no rights at all.

“I got married at an early age; later, we got divorced and my husband forced me and my children to live in his home.

"Actually, there were no laws which dictated that my children and I must stay in my husband's house; when I got a divorce from my husband, his father gave my children and I the right to stay at my ex-husband’s home. However, following the father’s death, my husband proceeded to file a suit against me and the court decided in his favor and gave him ownership of the house,” said Al-Shami.

The court’s ruling effectively left her without a home for herself and her children. While years have since passed, and though her situation has greatly improved over time, for Al-Shami, recollections of these struggles remain vivid.

Today, as an NDC member, Al-Shami said that she felt very happy when members of her working group agreed to approve legal items concerned with rights provisions for divorced women.