Kidnapped Yemeni Model to Undergo Forced Virginity Test

By Sally Shakkour

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Yemeni model Entesar Al-Hammadi was kidnapped on February 20th by Houthi militants from a street in the capital Sana. The 19-year-old model is likely to undergo a forced virginity test by the group.

The Yemeni model was held by the militants alongside two of her friends; dozens of activists, politicians and journalists slammed their abduction and called for immediate release to the model and her colleagues.

Translation: “She was forced to confess of possessing drugs and performing prostitution; now she is threatened to undergo a forced virginity test... The case of the Yemeni model detained by the Houthis is going viral; Amnesty International called not to force Intissar Al-Hammadi, 19, who has been detained for about two months, to undergo a forced virginity test. It called for her immediate release.”

Human rights activists have signed an online petition to pressure the Iran-backed Houthis to free the abducted Al-Hammadi, apologize to her and ban the virginity test.

According to media sources the petition says: “We strongly call for the immediate release of Entesar Al-Hammadi and her colleagues and (for) an apology for Entesar Al-Hammadi and her colleagues for (this) arbitrary detention.”

The Iranian-backed group was also accused of arbitrarily detention of opposition figures, journalists, and other artists and actresses by Amnesty on Friday.

Ali A-Bukhaiti, the Yemeni politician, journalist, and writer who used to be one of the Houthi militants before, took the model case into Twitter and wrote: “Houthis have arrested the Yemeni actress and model #Entesar_Al-Hammadi Just because she is an actress and model; The most heinous crime is the decision of the authority led by Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi to conduct a virginity test.”

Beside her arrest, Houthis have banned any media coverage in her case as her lawyer has been stopped from speaking to international news outlets while the Yemeni model was thrown in a solo confinement.

According to the Yemeni media, Al-Hammadi’s lawyer, Khaled Al-Kamal, is being threatened by the militants and pressured to leave his client's case.

Entesar Al-Hammadi was born to a Yemeni father and an Ethiopian mother. She always dreamed about becoming a model and actress despite being in a conservative society.