Women face tremendous legal and traditional discrimination, and approximately 80 percent of Yemeni women are illiterate, compared with 35 percent of men. Women convicted of moral offenses are arbitrarily detained for indefinite periods under the penal code. In November, the government announced that it would begin recruiting women as police officers. Workers may form unions, but the government regularly places its own personnel in influential positions inside unions and syndicates. The Yemeni Confederation of Labor Unions is the sole labor federation.
Workers have the right to bargain collectively and to strike.
Port workers in Aden and Hodeidah went on strike in November seeking higher wages.