Beyond gender: The complexities of women's access to humanitarian aid in Yemen

This article examines women's experiences in accessing humanitarian and development aid in an enhanced resilience program (ERP) in Yemen. Utilizing qualitative data from interviews with 32 women-headed households across the Hajjah and Abyan governorates, the study highlights how intersecting factors such as gender, socioeconomic status, education, and cultural norms shape the realities of women in humanitarian contexts. Despite the increasing adoption of gendered perspectives in humanitarian policies, the findings reveal that the lack of an intersectional perspective in conceptualizing women as aid recipients and a dependency on pre-existing patriarchal structures of leadership can lead to the exclusion of vulnerable women in the aid process. The research underscores the necessity for humanitarian organizations to move beyond traditional gender mainstreaming towards a more nuanced understanding of intersectionality that considers the diverse identities and social contexts.