{"id":4498,"date":"2014-07-03T07:41:32","date_gmt":"2014-07-03T05:41:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/?p=4498"},"modified":"2014-07-03T07:41:32","modified_gmt":"2014-07-03T05:41:32","slug":"syria-wars-toll-on-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/2014\/07\/syria-wars-toll-on-women\/","title":{"rendered":"Syria: War\u2019s Toll on Women"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Women\u00a0in\u00a0Syria\u00a0have been arbitrarily arrested and detained, physically abused, harassed, and tortured during Syria\u2019s conflict by government forces, pro-government militias, and armed groups opposed to the government, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW Committee) will conduct a\u00a0review<\/a>\u00a0of the situation for Syrian women on July 4, 2014, in Geneva.<\/p>\n

The 47-page report,\u00a0\u201cWe Are Still Here: Women on the Front Line of Syria\u2019s Conflict,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0profiles 17 Syrian women who are now refugees in Turkey. Through written and photographic portraits, the report documents ways in which the conflict impacts women in particular. Women profiled in the report experienced violations by government and pro-government forces as well as by armed groups opposed to the government such as Liwa\u2019al-Islam and extremist groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS). Some female activists and humanitarian aid providers said they had been threatened, arbitrarily arrested and detained, and tortured by government or armed opposition forces. All six former detainees profiled in the report experienced physical abuse or torture in detention; one woman was sexually assaulted multiple times. Other women said they had been victims of discriminatory restrictions on their dress and movement. Several women were injured or lost family members in indiscriminate attacks on civilians by government forces.<\/p>\n

\u201cWomen have not been spared any aspect of the brutality of the Syrian conflict, but they are not merely passive victims,\u201d said\u00a0Liesl Gerntholtz<\/a>, women\u2019s rights director at Human Rights Watch. \u201cWomen are taking on increasing responsibilities \u2013 whether by choice or due to circumstance \u2013 and they should not have to pay with intimidation, arrest, abuse, or even torture.\u201d<\/p>\n


The United Nations committee review is an opportunity to highlight the plight of women in Syria \u2013 in particular, that the government of Syria and many non-state actors are committing abuses against women and girls in a climate of total impunity, Human Rights Watch said. The committee should urge the Syrian government to cease arbitrary arrest and detention and all forms of violence against women, to investigate such abuses, and to hold those responsible to account. During its review, the committee is responsible for assessing the state party\u2019s adherence to its obligations under\u00a0<\/span>CEDAW<\/a>\u00a0and recommending actions it should take to improve the situation for women and girls.<\/span>

The UN Security Council, Syrian government, and other concerned parties should also ensure women\u2019s full and meaningful\u00a0<\/span>representation and participation<\/a>\u00a0in all future peace talks or negotiations, as well as in subsequent policy-making and peace-building processes, Human Rights Watch said.<\/span>

The report is based on interviews with 27 refugee women and representatives of 7 service providers in Gaziantep and Kilis, Turkey, in March and April 2014. Several of the women told Human Rights Watch that government forces or non-state armed groups had harassed, threatened, or\u00a0<\/span>detained<\/a>\u00a0them because of their peaceful activism, including planning and participating in nonviolent demonstrations and providing humanitarian assistance to needy Syrians. Other women described their experiences after they became de facto household heads or primary providers when government forces detained male family members, or when they were injured or killed in<\/span>indiscriminate attacks<\/a>\u00a0on civilian areas by armed groups.<\/span>

Maisa, 30, was providing medical assistance to members of armed groups opposed to the government and working for a pro-opposition satellite television station before government security forces detained her in Damascus in April 2013. Members of the security forces beat her throughout the night with a thick green hose: \u201cThey slapped me on the face. They pulled me from my hair. They hit me on my feet, on my back, all over.\u201d The women profiled were identified only by their first name or by a pseudonym, depending on their individual security situations.<\/span>

Some non-state armed groups also harassed and detained women profiled in the report, and imposed discriminatory policies on women and girls, including restrictions on their dress and freedom of movement. Berivan, 24, a Syrian Kurd, was providing medical aid to people living in the besieged Yarmouk camp in Damascus when the non-state armed group Liwa\u2019 al-Islam detained her. She was released after 10 days, but when she tried to re-open her makeshift pharmacy in the camp, ISIS threatened her because she was wearing the\u00a0<\/span>hijab<\/em>(headscarf) but not the\u00a0<\/span>abaya<\/em>\u00a0(a loose-fitting, full-length robe): \u201cThey said, \u2018If we see you like this again, we will kill you. If we ever see you in this area, we will hang you.\u2019\u201d<\/span>

Other women told Human Rights Watch that they were injured or lost family members in indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas. Several had become their family\u2019s primary provider as a result of the conflict. Four of Amal\u2019s five children were killed in a July 2013\u00a0<\/span>barrel bombing<\/a>\u00a0in Aleppo. Shortly thereafter, her husband suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed and with impaired speech. Amal, 44, serves as his caregiver. In March, the family went to Turkey to seek medical treatment and rehabilitative care for her husband. There they were sleeping outside in a park and relying on charity for meals.<\/span>

Since the beginning of the Syrian uprisings in March 2011, Human Rights Watch has conducted investigative missions in\u00a0<\/span>Syria<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>Turkey<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>Lebanon<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>Jordan<\/a>, and Iraqi Kurdistan to document human rights abuses by all parties to the conflict, including\u00a0<\/span>arbitrary arrest<\/a>\u00a0and detention,\u00a0<\/span>torture<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>discriminatory restrictions<\/a>\u00a0on women and girls, summary\u00a0<\/span>executions<\/a>, unlawful neighborhood\u00a0<\/span>demolitions<\/a>, and use of\u00a0<\/span>chemical<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>incendiary weapons<\/a>.<\/span>

In accordance with\u00a0<\/span>UN Security Council Resolution 1325<\/a>\u00a0and CEDAW, which the government of Syria ratified in 2003, all parties to the conflict should take measures to protect women and girls from violence during conflict, including but not limited to sexual and gender-based violence. Resolution 1325 and CEDAW also require state parties to hold those responsible for such abuses to account, provide support for women\u2019s medical, psycho-social, and economic needs, and ensure women\u2019s meaningful inclusion at all levels in further peace negotiations and state-building initiatives.<\/span>

\u201cThe women of Syria have faced extraordinary loss, yet they persist as activists, caregivers, and humanitarians,\u201d Gerntholtz said. \u201cThe international community needs to hold the Syrian government and armed groups accountable for abuses against women and girls, and donor governments should help to meet their immediate needs and press for women\u2019s active participation in determining Syria\u2019s future.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Women in Syria have been arbitrarily arrested and detained, physically abused, harassed, and tortured during Syria\u2019s conflict by government forces, pro-government militias, and armed groups opposed to the government, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":4499,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[90,88,48,17,49],"tags":[471],"class_list":["post-4498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editor-selection","category-slider","category-war-and-peace","category-women","category-womens-rights","tag-syria","country-world"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4498"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4501,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4498\/revisions\/4501"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}