Vulnerabilities of Women in Syria:
Since the 2011 popular uprising in Syria, girls and women situation has gotten worse. The United Nations Security Council Resolution 13259(2000) states that civilians, particularly children and women, are the most negatively affected for all these years by armed conflict. According to the United Nations Population report called Voices of Syria, girls and women have for years been shouldering a significant portion of the armed conflict consequences (European Asylum Support Office, 2020). The Independent International Commission of Inquiry emphasizes that a large number of girls and women have been disproportionately affected irrespective of the geographical area or perpetrator. The Syrian Network for Human Rights report in 2019 stated that the multiple roles that women play as caregivers and mothers made them the worst affected (Syrian Network for Human Rights, 2019). Women and girls face unique risks and vulnerabilities with conflicts such as the war in Syria, significantly increasing the challenges.
Arbitrary Arrests, Torture and Extrajudicial Killings:
Several non-governmental reports, including the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, stated that women were gradually losing social status, their lives, homes, security, and family members because of the rule of law collapse, legal system destruction, arms proliferation, and civilian targeting. Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) report states that girls and women have faced many violations, including extrajudicial killings, denial of basic services and healthcare, siege welfare, executions, torture, enforced disappearances, and arbitrary arrests. According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights (2019), there have been deliberate and direct attacks on Syrian girls and women by the government forces and other parties involved in the conflict. SNHR documented 28,076 girls and women’s deaths between 2011 and 2019. The report states that government forces, a unit expected to protect women and girls, were responsible for 21 856 deaths, representing 78% of extrajudicial killings. The report further stated that torture claimed the lives of 90 women in the same period, with those who died in government forces totalling 72 (European Asylum Support Office, 2020). According to the United Nations Human Rights Council (2023), at least 10 363 women in Syria have forcibly disappeared or forcibly detailed. The government has been the perpetrator of more than 8,412, or 81% of these cases (Syrian Network for Human Rights, 2019). Therefore, many women and girls have died or been tortured because of war, acts perpetrated by both the government and the militias.
Risks of Livelihood and Economic Harm:
Women in Syria have faced both indirect and direct violence as a result of the ongoing war. For instance, the destroyed infrastructure has impacted them. Gendered harm may be perceived from the bodily harm perspective. However, there is unacknowledged harm, such as the distinctive moral and economic harm which have faced girls and women in Syria for more than 12 years (Ni Aolain, 2020). The International Committee of Red Cross states that war consequences have been particularly brutal for women in Syria (United Nations Human Rights Council, 2023). According to the World Bank (2019) report, women have faced risks in livelihood access and family and personal security. Their mobility has been significantly restricted, with concerns for honour and security increasing because of the conflict-affected and fragile environment (Chen, 2023). According to the World Bank, they face a particularly challenging situation because they are required to access markets and services or support systems more during the war period because most men have become conflict victims, are on the frontline or engage far from home (World Bank, 2019). Women whose residents are near battlelines face indiscriminate and widespread violence, including shelling and aerial bombardment. Therefore, the lack of free movement and economic opportunities increases the hardships for disenfranchised families.
Sexual and Gender-Based Violence:
War in Syria has magnified the already existing risk of sexual violence, harassment, and exploitation of women and girls in Syria. Sexual and gender-based violence has repeatedly been employed as war weapon in Syria. According to the SNHR (2019), the government, the arm expected to be the main protector of girls and women, has used sexual violence as a conflict-strategic weapon. The practice’s primary goal is to destroy Syrian society’s social fabric. Every governorate in Syria has documented cases of gender-based violence, such as sexual humiliation, sexual torture, sexual assault and rape (United Nations Human Rights Council, 20230. Ghalia Rahal’s case helps gain insight into the extent of sexual exploitation and violence against women in Syria. According to her, women are fighting on multiple fronts, including the regime warplanes, the extremists and armed groups, and the patriarchal society. A United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA) Voices of Syria report concludes that the war represents a deeply-rooted patriarchal structure; thus, women will always be more affected by increased lawlessness. She was forced to flee her home located in southern Idlib for a safer place in Barisha IDB Camp. Her Mazaya Centre, a safe space empowering women via vocational support and training, receives around eight women weekly searching for help. Sexual abuse and harassment were present before the war, but the conflict has increased the despicable acts against Syrian women and girls.
Many Syrian women have reported that external stressors have caused gender-based violence to rise in their homes. According to UFPA, women and girls are saying that abuse and violence against them are nowadays so widespread, with many feeling that the vice has become normalized in Syria (Bendavid et al., 2021). Some civil society and non-profit making organizations have also been accused of taking advantage of the widespread poverty to exploit girls and women. According to the 47-year-old, it is challenging for Syrian women to come forward and accuse an individual of assaulting or abusing her because of a job or a basket of food exchange. A young girl collaborates with Rahal’s story concerning the state of Syria, stating that they were requested to leave their homes for fear of kidnap, rape and harassment. She further states that she was advised that child marriage represents her only way of true safety and survival. Therefore, the conflict in Syria fairly demonstrates that war and conflicts increase gender-based violence.
Early Marriages and Abuse:
When conflict actors utilize tactics and strategies that harm young girls in any society, the probability of girls being forced to get married early significantly increases. A recent report shows that over 30% of refugees originating from Syria were married before they reached 18 years (Hamad et al., 2021). The research population included women between the ages of 20-24. Child marriage rates have increased by 400% compared to pre-conflict time (Rizkalla et al., 2021). This is significantly high because child marriages in the war-torn country were high before the conflicts started. Forced and early marriages affecting young girls have increased and are frequently deployed to mitigate family honour reputational risks or coping mechanisms for financial hardship alleviation (United Nations Human Rights Council, 2023). Therefore, the early Syrian conflict has heavily influenced child marriages with problems such as poverty and social exclusion, making them more vulnerable.
Head of the Household with Minimal Economic Opportunities:
The Syria conflict has resulted in massive displacement, with women heads of households significantly increasing with hundreds of thousands missing, disappearing or killed. Women and girls can no longer enjoy basic human rights, including the right to health and food. Six million individuals require urgent nutritional assistance in Syria (Sidhva et al., 2021). Women and girls comprise 74% of this number. World Bank (2019) states that women-headed households in war-torn countries are twice as likely to lack basic needs than male-headed households. 92% of households headed by women in displacement camps report complete or insufficient ability to access and meet basic needs. According to sources, only 2-5% of women own households in Syria (United Nations Population Fund, 2019). The female heads of households were thus finding it difficult to access property and housing during the war. The Syrian women’s life expectancy has decreased to 55.7 years from a relatively high level of 75.9 years (United Nations Human Rights Council, 2019). The male partner deaths as a result of the Syrian war have left many women with no option but to become the head of their households and make ends meet for their families.
Entrenched Discrimination and Violation:
Violations against women and girls in the country started before the armed conflict facing the country. Women have faced discrimination and violations in practices and law for decades. The government showed little effort and commitment to address gender-based violence, injustice and discrimination against women (Hamad et al., 2021). The Syrian government has failed to embrace adequate measures to ensure that the nation’s women’s situation has improved. According to the UNDP Gender Equality Index, Syria’s rank among 148 nations globally was 118 in 2010 for reproductive health discrepancy between women and men. The results had been stagnant for the previous ten years, showing the lack of commitment towards improving women’s situation. This shows that the Syrian government has done little to curb discrimination and violation in a deeply patriarchy society.
Human Trafficking and Women:
Syria had previously introduced laws intended to curb human trafficking, but the vice had been happening prior to the war. However, it has significantly increased during the war. The country has long been considered a human trafficking transit nation and destination (Chen, 2023). According to Ni Aolain (2020), the lack of statistics to reflect the level of human trafficking since the war started shows a failure on the part of the government and different agencies to have a concrete response plan to address the issue and protect women, girls and children. Lack of employment and poor financial conditions have forced many Syrian women and other refugees from different war-torn regions to turn to prostitution to be self-sufficient and feed their families (Roupetz et al., 2020). This explains why Lebanese prisons have incarcerated a significant number of Syrian women, charging them with prostitution.
Forced Disappearance and Detained Women:
In 2011, thirteen recommendations were accepted by the Syrian government to prevent prisoners’ ill-treatment and release unjustly detailed prisoners. However, reports show this is misleading and inaccurate (Chen, 2023). Local statistics and international reports show that since the beginning of the war to the present day, thousands of women have been detained. Currently, many Syrian women are unjustly detained, and their fate remains unknown (United Nations Human Rights Council, 2019). The militias and government forces’ continued repression and intimidation of activists remain an obstacle in violations documentation. Human rights observers have also been denied any meaningful access. According to statistics, 76% of women detainees in the country are held in secret locations and security branches (Syrian Network for Human Rights, 2019). Only 24% of the details are in the country’s central prisons. Damascus Central Prison holds 84% of women in the central prison country, irrespective of where a woman originates from (Goktas, 2019). Damascus Central Prison, Adra, is considered significantly dangerous because of its close proximity to the war zone. Goktas (2019, further states that military operations and other war-related activities make it challenging for detained relatives to visit them. Detention has historically represented an insurmountable challenging experience for women detainees all over the world, even after release.
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry and the Euro-Mediterranean Rights reported that Syria was using detainees or prisoners as bargaining chips in detainee swaps. They also use them as hostages to ensure that relatives needed for swaps feel the pressure and act according to the government or other groups (Banwell, 2020). The government of Syria has used women, who represent their own citizens, as a trade tool to access weapons. The act occurred in Daraa, on the Damascus-Jordan highway. Most arbitrary disappearance and detention victims may be males. However, the great impact was on women forced to search for ways to feed their families since they were left as sole breadwinners (Syrian Network for Human Rights, 2019). They also have to search for legal costs and other expenses needed to search and secure family members’ release. Security officers and other gatekeepers also subject them to sexual exploitation as they seek to access their loved ones (Chen, 2023). The exploitation happens in the name of “offering help”. Even if such women have male members present, they are forced to take the mantle of travelling and going through war zones. Upon reaching the capital, they must wait for long hours or even days in places like military police headquarters. In these places, the police humiliate them (Chen, 2023). However, They must undertake such journeys and inquire about their family members because most males fear authorities’ punitive actions if they present themselves (Banwell, 2020). The humiliation and exploitation have disenfranchised women and increased suffering and hopelessness.
Women Human Rights Defenders and Activists Targeted:
Syria’s violence and repression against women human rights defenders and activists is systematically escalating. Human rights defenders are facing many forms of abuse, including arbitrary arrests, torture and abduction by the security forces using unofficial and official detention centres (Asad, 2020). Many women activists have been accused of being terrorists. The intention is to justify enforced disappearance and arbitrary arrests. According to (Hamad et al. 92021), the severe psychological, social and economic impact, even after such women are released, does not end with education institutions or work dismissal. Such women can also be rejected by their immediate families or be divorced (Asad, 2020). The Syrian government also embraced psychological abuse, including ordering activists’ property and house expropriation, claiming that they are terrorists or support terrorism. Therefore, women activists and human rights defenders are not cushioned from the challenges that other women and girls face because of the war in Syria.
How Humanitarian Interventions are being Gender Sensitive:
In Syria, women and girls represent a significant portion of those in need of humanitarian interventions. Syrian girls and women struggle to access protection, prevention and legal services if needed (Akik et al., 2020). They are also expected to be caregivers to family members, including children. According to Shanneik (2021), gender-sensitive humanitarian interventions should ensure that aid efforts and actions address girls and women in Syria crisis situation-specific vulnerabilities and needs. Gender-sensitive interventions should consider various approaches, including gender analysis, gender mainstreaming, economic empowerment and livelihood, gender-based violence response and prevention, reproductive health and healthcare access, and girls’ empowerment and education (Diagle, 2022). Therefore, an analysis of whether gender-sensitive humanitarian intervention should consider whether they consider such critical areas. Gender analysis requires integration into all situational analysis and assessment to ensure that the interventions do not exacerbate gender-based inequalities and injustices and proper humanitarian response programs.
Gender Analysis:
Performing an in-depth gender analysis process represents the much-needed foundation for gaining insight into the different capacities, roles, and needs of girls and women. Many humanitarian interventions have considered the gender dynamics implementation and planning processes (Lokot, 2022). CARE International performed a rapid gender analysis between the months of December 2021 and February 2022 in Northeast and Northwest Syria. CARE performed research incorporating 1040 households in Northeast and Northwest Syria, eight gender protection audits, 11 field observations, and 25 focus groups (CARE, 2022). Their gender analysis results for girls and women concluded that the marginalized group faced discrimination, gender inequalities, and unequal power relations thus, are the hardest hit or affected by the conflict. The analysis further pointed out that they will require longer recovery. The United Nations Refugee Agency gender analysis findings showed gender inequalities and challenges across the refugee population from Syria, with women and girls having limited opportunities, rights and access (UNDP, 2020). The Independent International Commission of Inquiry of the Syrian Arab Republic’s gender analysis concluded that the challenges facing girls and women revolved around aspects such as wider protection like gender-based and sexual violence, legal issues, humanitarian assistance, economic participation, food insecurity and education (Reliefweb, 2022). Therefore, several organizations have performed gender analysis to understand the best interventions better.
Gender Mainstreaming:
Involved parties are expected to ensure gender consideration integration across humanitarian response sectors like protection, education and food security. The United Nations and the United Nations Development Programme have embraced gender mainstreaming clear strategies (UNDP, 2020). Together with other organizations, they have systematically integrated and embraced gender equality goals into practices, resource allocation, programmes at different levels, and organizational policies. The analysis of the situation of women in Syria helped international organizations to mainstream gender.
Gender-based Violence Response and Prevention, Education Access and Empowerment:
The intervention incorporates developing and implementing strategies that create and maintain a safe space in Syria for girls and women. Falb and Annan (2021) state that players have embraced the shift in focus approach where women and girls are not perceived as victims ms but as survivors, agents and actors of change. They strongly focus on girls and women’s empowerment and agency. According to the United Nations Human Rights Council (2019), governmental and non-governmental organizations and individuals have ramped up efforts to enhance women’s political influence and participation in humanitarian crises, conflicts and peace contexts. Players have increased women’s economic empowerment to help them gain bargaining power and avoid or leave abusive relationships. Some activities include strengthening employment and entrepreneurship opportunities, enhancing women’s access to property, and encouraging education access. Falb and Annan (2021) note that such efforts may not yield the needed results in the long term because they can contribute to violence towards the target group. The current gender ideals in Syria link the provider role in the family set-up with masculinity (Diagle, 2022). However, increasing women’s economic empowerment helps prevent gender-based violence in the long term. Some efforts and programs ensure that sexual and reproductive health and rights have been increased in Syria (Diagle, 2022). They include women’s rights protection and promotion, helping them control matters concerning their sexual and reproductive health, sexuality, and family planning possibilities.
The gender-based violence humanitarian interventions are performed via offering psychosocial support, offering girls and women safe spaces, ensuring survivors can access justice, and community-based protection mechanisms in Syria promotion. Players also use targeted interventions to empower women economically (Lokot, 2022). They include entrepreneurship programs, vocational training, and cash transfers. Reproductive health and healthcare access programmes include child and maternal healthcare, reproductive health services, family planning services and contraceptive access. Girls’ empowerment and education are being attained through access to education promotion (Diagle, 2022). The efforts are meant to address barriers like cultural norms in Syria that have for a long time limited girls’ education, child marriage and gender-based violence. Therefore, despite the shortcomings of various interventions in Syria, many players have been trying to streamline their intervention strategies to be gender sensitive.
References
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