In Yemen, Saferworld and partners The National Organisation for Community Development (NODS), PASS Foundation Peace for Sustainable Societies and Youth Without Borders Organization for Development (YwBOD) have been running locally led initiatives that protect communities. At the heart of this work is Yemeni-led hubs that are forums for dialogue, decision-making and coordinated action. Two of these are dedicated women’s hubs – the Noon Women’s Hub in Aden and the Wahag Women’s Hub in Taiz – that support women leaders, amplify their voices, and advocate for their participation in peace processes and civil society spaces.
Digital spaces are central to how people connect, organise and participate in public life, but we are also seeing how these spaces are vulnerable to the emergence or intensification of risks and threats that undermine peace and security. This is particularly the case for women and girls, who are disproportionally targeted by online harassment, technology-facilitated gender-based violence, hate speech and electronic blackmail. These digital threats not only harm individuals but are also systematically used to silence women, limit their political participation, and exclude them from shaping peace and security agendas.
We support locally led initiatives to raise awareness around digital forms of gender-based violence, advocate for responsive and effective legal reform, and build mechanisms for protection and accountability in digital spaces. This work helps to reduce the digital harms that fuel fear, silence voices and undermine social cohesion, which helps to create and protect safe online spaces for women’s participation and leadership in peacebuilding. Our work with partners and women’s hubs in Yemen shows how digital peacebuilding can combine locally led action with institutional change to make online spaces safer, more inclusive, and more conducive to peace.
A PASS Foundation awareness video on cyber extortion that was produced as part of the project.
Cyber extortion poses immediate threats to the safety of those targeted and can reduce their confidence with engaging in conversations in digital spaces and within their communities. It also poses a significant barrier to women’s participation in public and digital life, discouraging their engagement in peacebuilding and civic spaces.
The women’s hubs and Yemeni-led community hubs flagged this as an urgent issue that needs to be addressed. Together we worked to advocate for and establish a Cyber Extortion Division within the Public Prosecution Office of Yemen’s judicial system, which came into effect in March 2024. This initiative has played a crucial role in raising awareness, protecting victims, and ensuring legal accountability for cyber-related crimes.
The division serves as a confidential and accessible channel for victims to report cyber extortion, offering a vital sense of security in navigating what is often an intimidating justice system. Judge Fawzi Ali Saif Saeed, First Attorney General of Yemen, highlighted its importance when the division was launched:
“…the establishment will lead to more efficient handling of this crime, better protection of victims, and modernisation of investigative tools in line with technological developments. This will contribute to achieving justice and enhancing digital security in the Republic of Yemen.”
In the first 12 months the division has already made considerable progress, including:
Judge Sabah Ahmed Saleh Al-Alwani, a member of the Supreme Judicial Council, emphasised how the division is changing perceptions of accountability:
“The presence of the division has played a major role in delivering the message that accountability exists, making social media no longer an unregulated space for extortion. This has helped reduce the rise of these crimes.”
This work reflects a concrete contribution to the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda by enhancing legal frameworks to protect women in digital spaces, supporting survivor-centred justice, and ensuring women can safely participate in peacebuilding without fear of digital harm or retaliation.
A PASS Foundation awareness video on cyber extortion that was produced as part of the project.
The creation of Yemen’s Cyber Extortion Division has been particularly transformative for women and girls, who are disproportionately the primary targets of cyber extortion. In digital spaces that often mirror offline patriarchal norms, perpetrators exploit gendered vulnerabilities to silence, shame and control women, threatening their safety, social standing and access to public life. Perpetrators use blackmail to coerce and control behaviour and to demand payments. This form of technology-facilitated gender-based violence is not only a violation of privacy and dignity, but a deliberate tactic to exclude women from digital and civic spaces. It undermines women’s freedom of expression, limits their participation in peacebuilding, and reinforces harmful gender norms.
This initiative is part of a broader shift within the global WPS agenda that recognises the need to extend protection and participation frameworks into digital spaces. United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and subsequent WPS resolutions call for the protection of women from all forms of violence, and the full, equal and meaningful participation of women in peace and security processes.
Dr Roaa Abdullah Mujahid Abdullah, a member of the Noon Women’s Hub, explained:
“With the rise of cyber extortion, the urgent need for a specialised authority to handle such crimes has become apparent – especially since women and girls are the primary targets due to the misuse of social media. The division enhances the authorities’ ability to combat these crimes, protect victims, and ultimately reduce extortion cases, creating a safer environment for users.”
Other members of the Noon Women’s Hub echoed this sentiment. Nabila Ahmed Mohammed Dada’a stressed the broader impact of the division:
“Creating a specialised Cyber Extortion Division in Yemen is essential for protecting society, especially women and girls, from the dangers of the digital world. In a conservative society like Yemen, even a single posted image can become a crisis that threatens a woman’s reputation and life. This division is not merely a law enforcement entity; it also extends psychological support, awareness and protection to victims.”
Yemeni organisations – particularly the Noon Women’s Hub – played a central role in making this initiative a reality. They worked closely with the Attorney General’s Office to push for the establishment of the division and have provided advice, training, external advocacy and coordination since its inception.
A representative from the Noon Women’s Hub described this process:
“We arranged a meeting with the Attorney General – he welcomed the idea a lot and surprised me, honestly. Instead of making a small decision to establish an office or unit, he issued a bigger decision to establish a division – this was a change in state policies.”
As well as advocating for policy change, civil society groups have also helped spread awareness and educate people about online safety. Lawyer and human rights defender Afraa Khaled Ibrahim Al-Hariri, a coordinator at the Noon Women’s Hub, highlighted the importance of prevention:
“The key to combating cybercrime is preventing it before it happens. Prevention is one of the most crucial aspects that everyone must be aware of. Certain precautionary measures can significantly reduce the risks of cyber extortion.”
While the establishment of the new division is a major step forward, challenges remain. Yemen’s ongoing conflict and economic difficulties make it hard to provide the necessary financial and technical resources to comprehensively combat cybercrime.
Judge Ammar Alawi Masoud Salem, President of Al-Tawahi Primary Court, explained some of these difficulties:
“Even powerful countries struggle to combat cybercrime effectively, so the challenge is even greater for a country like Yemen, which continues to face political conflicts and war.”
He also noted the importance of continued investment:
“While the division’s creation is a positive step in limiting these crimes, its effectiveness remains limited due to a lack of financial support, the absence of specialised and trained personnel, and Yemen’s lack of agreements with global networks that could help identify extortionists.”
The ongoing collaboration between judicial authorities, civil society organisations and Yemeni communities will be crucial in ensuring that Yemen’s digital future is one where there is accountability, safety and justice. Despite the challenges, the establishment of the Cyber Extortion Division marks a turning point for digital safety in Yemen and for online spaces where women and girls can participate in dialogue and peace processes. It has helped survivors and has sent a clear message that cybercrime will not be ignored or overlooked, setting a precedent for integrating digital safety into broader peacebuilding and gender equality strategies in Yemen. As Judge Sabah Ahmed Saleh Al-Alwani put it:
“The necessity of establishing this division arose to curb the increasing prevalence of such acts, send a clear message that perpetrators will be held accountable, and ensure that social media does not become a tool for extortion.”
Read more about Saferworld’s work in Yemen.
Find out more about the Yemeni-led hubs.
