This editorial is going to offend many of my countrymen. Nevertheless, things must be told and solutions must be found.

Visiting my dentist the other day, I heard two shocking stories about vicious Yemeni male behavior. She heard the stories firsthand from the mouths of the victims during her shift at a government health center located on the outskirts of Sana’a.

The first was the story of a Yemeni man from Amran who threw his three-month-old daughter against a wall because her crying kept him awake at night.

The second story was of a woman who, after delivering her second child at home according to the traditions of her tribe, suffered from severe vaginal tears. Her husband would not allow her to go to the hospital for stitches, and after two years, her wounds were severe enough that she had complications even going to the bathroom. Ironically, the reason she was visiting the health center was because her husband was wondering why she wasn’t getting pregnant. After all, he is doing his part, right?

One way to really get a feel of any society’s pulse is to listen to the stories in a health clinic waiting room. People will come with their grief and their true stories of suffering. The extent of cruelty and savageness in our Yemeni society is extreme, especially at the hands of its men.

My question—which is also an appeal to all the lawyers and activists who understand the Yemeni system—is: is there anyway for the law, for society or even for individuals to hold these criminals accountable?

Who can those abused wives and mothers turn to so that justice can be done? Their parents are usually—if not always—unsupportive because otherwise the women would not have endured such a miserable life for even one second.

Is there a way some government or nongovernment agency can be informed of such abuses and take strict action against these evil men? Or should we try and play God by taking matters into our own hands as the “righteous ones” in the society? Should we form a secret group of citizen police outside the legal system and, after investigating the incidents, dispatch our secret men and women to avenge these women?

If we do this, where do we stop? What does justice mean? Is it enough to slam that father against the wall for what his has done to his infant, or do we also break a leg? We can leave a message saying we are God’s sent angels, and this is for what you have done to your child, but how can we guarantee he does not go back home and put a bullet into both the mother and the child’s heads?

So many dark thoughts, but this is a reality in our society, and we have to do something about it. Cruelty must not be endured, and these monsters must not be allowed to not only get away with their crimes but also to thrive in this nation.

Action needs to be taken now. Let’s start a project that would revive humanity in our society.