Survey data suggests that there is a fairly high level of support for women becoming involved in politics as candidates for office and is mostly the same between genders. Figure 1 shows that 64% of men and women each strongly/somewhat support women as political candidates. However, 12% more men than women oppose women as political candidates. One third of Yemeni men (35%) compared to 23% of Yemeni women strongly/somewhat oppose women as political candidates.

Majorities of women across various education levels, age groups, and settlement types strongly/somewhat support women as political candidates. By education, support increases as education increases. However, the highest percentage of women who say they don’t know are women with no education (20%), which is four times more than women with higher levels of education. By age, younger Yemeni women have higher percentages of support than older Yemeni women. Yet, over one-third of women 55 and older say they don’t know. This uncertainty could be due to the fact that women aged 55 and older are generally less educated than younger Yemeni women. Majorities of women across different areas support women in politics, with women in urban areas more supportive of women in politics than women in small towns or rural areas (Figure 2).

When asked whether they would encourage a daughter (if they have one or supposing they have one) to become involved in politics, opinions are split between encouraging and discouraging a daughter. Over half of both women and men only say they would encourage a daughter becoming involved at both a local and national level. Still, women are slightly more likely than men to say they would strongly/somewhat encourage a daughter to become involved in politics as a municipal candidate (60% and 50%, respectively) and a parliamentary candidate (60% and 49%, respectively).

On the other hand, half (51%) of Yemeni men say they would strongly/somewhat discourage a daughter from being a parliamentary candidate and a large 40% of Yemeni men would strongly discourage a daughter from this option. This is 14% higher than the percentage of women who would strongly discourage a daughter (26%), but it is interesting to note that over one third (34%) of Yemeni women would also strongly/somewhat discourage a daughter from this path (Figure 3).

Of both women and men who say they would discourage a daughter from becoming involved in politics as a municipal or parliamentary candidate, the three most cited responses by women and men involve traditional views of women’s abilities and roles. The most cited reasons given by women include: these issues are exclusive to men only (30%), a girl has to take care of her house only (23%), and girls cannot handle political responsibilities (15%). Next, 11% of women say it is because they are scared that she would get harmed, 3% say it is because she cannot succeed because society will not support her.

Of men who would discourage a daughter from becoming involved in politics, the first most-cited response is the belief that a girl has to take care of her house only (33%), followed by the belief that these issues are exclusive to men only (20%), and the perception that girls cannot handle political responsibilities (15%). Four percent of men say it is because she cannot succeed because society will not support her, 3% say it is because they are scared that she would get harmed, and 3% cite customs/traditions/religious reasons (Figure 4).