More than six million women and girls in Yemen face heightened risks of violence, exploitation, and abuse this year due to the ongoing humanitarian crisis and funding shortages, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) warned on Thursday.

According to a statement, around five million women and girls of reproductive age lack access to essential health care services. The report underscores the urgent need for life-saving humanitarian aid, emphasizing that investing in women and girls is crucial to combating discrimination and violence.

Despite these challenges, UN data shows that in 2024, UNFPA-supported protection services, reproductive health care—including maternal and neonatal care—and emergency relief reached 7.2 million women and girls across Yemen.

Meanwhile, a March 8 report by the Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms documented 5,282 violations against women by the Iran-backed Houthis. The report covered incidents from January 1, 2017, to January 1, 2025, across 17 Yemeni governorates.

The violations included 1,466 cases of killing and 3,379 injuries resulting from artillery shelling, landmine explosions, improvised explosive devices, sniper attacks, and indiscriminate gunfire. Additionally, the report recorded 547 cases of kidnapping, forced disappearance, and torture.

The Yemeni government, alongside local and international human rights organizations, has called on the Houthis to release all female detainees held in both official and secret prisons, disclose the fate of forcibly disappeared women, and immediately end gender-based violence.