Progress Amid Resistance

560 WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICAAccess to higher education remains limited for both men and women.Ac cording to World Bank data for 2007, the gross school enrollment rateat the tertiary level was 5 percent for women and 13.5 percent for men. 32There are no formal restrictions on the subjects women can study at university,but they are often expected to focus on the social rather than thenatural sciences. Most universities are not segregated by gender, althoughone private Islamist university, Al-Iman, does impose segregation betweenmale and female students.According to the Labor Law (No. 5 of 1995) and the Civil Service Law(No. 19 of 1991), women have the same right as men to work and occupypublic office. Yet the patriarchal nature of Yemeni society often restrictswomen’s freedom to choose their profession. Women’s male relatives ofteninterfere with their decisions on such matters, and social norms dictatethat certain professions, such as teaching, public administration, and medicine,are more appropriate for a woman. These norms also emphasize thatsociety most favors women’s reproductive role. Yemen’s 2007 report to theUN CEDAW committee noted that the economic participation rate is22.8 percent for women and 69.2 percent for men. Women’s participationis generally limited to traditional activities such as agriculture and handicrafts,and most women work in the informal sector. High illiteracy rates,a lack of skills, and inadequate training contribute to women’s limitedparticipation in the workforce. 33The government has taken some positive measures to protect womenfrom discrimination in employment. Decree No. 191 of 2007 dictatesthe abolition of such discrimination, though it is restricted to Yemenisand does not improve conditions for noncitizen residents. Also in 2007,women were allowed to enroll in the High Judicial Institute for the firsttime. A certificate from the institute is a prerequisite for a career as a judge.Prior to this change, all female Yemeni judges came from the former SouthYemen, whose socialist policies fostered women’s emancipation. In a morerecent development, the previously closed male domain of the CentralSecurity Agency, which has responsibilities ranging from ensuring thesafety of property and persons to border security and counterterrorism,announced in March 2009 that it would begin accepting female applicantsto be trained as part of women’s police units.Some professions, such as the army, are still limited to men, and so -cial customs prevent women from becoming taxi drivers, constructionworkers, or car mechanics. Systemic nepotism and corruption limits the