B.S. did not enjoy a long, happy married life as she had hoped. Unfortunately, her husband suffered a spinal disc herniation and was unable to work, beginning a very painful phase in the life of this 28-year-old woman. Her name has been coded in this story for privacy and protection reasons.

A reality without a glimmer of hope

The husband's illness and inability to earn a living impacted his psychological health and made him angry at his family. His treatment of his life partner and the mother of his four children also worsened.

Economic pressures often contribute to the fracture of the family institution and transform it into a space of violence.

B.S.’s relatives suggested that she leave her husband and children and move alone to live with them due to their difficult living conditions and their inability to bear additional burdens.

Indeed, the devastating conflict in Yemen has turned large segments of society into poor people living with the minimum basics.

The offer from her relatives, however, did not appeal to her maternal instinct. Although life was harsh and her partner was abusive, she chose to suffer and sacrifice herself for the sake of her young children.

She faced intense pressure to provide her basic living needs, as donations from charitable people sometimes come, and many times they do not.

To resist the difficult circumstances, B.S. decided to look for work where she resides in Seiyun city of Hadhramaut Governorate, in order to obtain a suitable source of income that would spare her and her children the evil of poverty, hunger, and disease.

Nevertheless, her attempts were not successful in a country that suffers from high unemployment rates with very few opportunities for unskilled labor.

It was only in a desert full of despair that the light of dawn shone in a reality like this.

She learned about the safe space services available for women and girls in Wadi Hadhramaut by her friend, as part of the UNFPA-funded Protection and Livelihood Support Project, which is managed by HUMAN ACCESS for the purpose of addressing the challenges faced by vulnerable women.

Success story

A feeling of safety and protection

B.S. visited the safe space in search of hope for a better future. There, she presented her human tragedy in painful details to the messengers of humanity whom the desperate look to in times of need.

Her eyes did not stop with tears, saying: "I live in anxiety and psychological tension all day long."

Immediately, her case management process began, and she was referred to a psychiatrist to address her psychological trauma.

After that, she was enrolled in a vocational training program in the field of hairdressing and makeup art to build her resilience and save her and her family from the clutches of poverty and hunger.

This woman acquired and mastered the skills of this craft profession and was later empowered to meet the requirements of this profession to enter the labor market and earn a living.

It was finally possible for her to achieve her dream of obtaining a source of income to improve her standard of living and enable her to be self-sufficient, deal with many economic crises, and educate her children.

A new chapter began for this family when B.S. began to work passionately in the hairdressing field, keeping up to date with everything new, and attracting many clients through the quality and splendor of her work.

She describes this new era by saying: “I now feel safe. I am able to rely on myself to meet my family’s necessary requirements.”

She feels grateful for the protection and livelihood support project, which pulled her out of a bitter reality and helped her reach a better world.