SOHR exclusive | Nearly 80 Syrian women killed in acts of violence and over 30 others arrested and kidnapped in the first half of 2022 across Syria

In a conflict-torn nation: Syrian women dream to obtain salvation and peace

 

Amid unpleasant present and uncertain future, Syrian women have been facing the scourges of an absurd war which has been raging for over a decade. That war, which was labelled as the most violent in the 21^st Century, has indiscriminately destroyed houses, schools, hospitals and infrastructure, forced hundreds of thousands of Syrian women to displace inside and outside Syria, and robbed them of their loved families.

 

According to SOHR statistics, which have documented and captured the ongoing tragedy of the Syrian women, over 15,000 Syrian women over the age of eighteen have been killed by all warring parties throughout Syria since the outset of the Syrian Revolution in March 2011. Also, 155,002 Syrian women were arrested by regime security services in the same period.

 

Since the beginning of 2022, Syria has not witnessed any breakthroughs to the current awkward situation, while the dramatic developments at all levels show no tangible improvement of the Syrian women’s conditions. Syrian women in the entire Syrian geography have been grappling with chronic crises manifested in the worsening security situation, poor health and medical care, acute lack of essentials and loss of basic livelihood; not to mention the extreme violence practiced by all warring parties against these women.

 

In the first six months of 2022, SOHR documented the death of 78 women in all zones of influence in Syria; they are distributed as follows:

 

• Five women were killed in indiscriminate gunfire during armed infightings.

 

• Two women were killed by extremists.

 

• Five women were killed in gunfire and bombardment by regime forces.

 

• 15 women were assassinated.

 

• Two women died of poor healthcare.

 

• A woman was killed in Russian bombardment.

 

• 11 women were killed in explosions of old ordnance.

 

• Seven women were killed by ISIS.

 

• A woman was killed in Turkish bombardment.

 

• A woman was killed in gunfire by unknown gunmen.

 

• A woman was killed by Syria Democratic Forces (SDF).

 

• Four women were killed in other circumstances.

 

• 23 women were killed in unknown circumstances.

 

Moreover, 15 women and little girls killed themselves during the same period, from early January to late June, where most of these suicide cases were committed for unknown reasons and motives. Here is a breakdown of suicide cases of females in 2022:

 

• Areas controlled by Turkish forces and their proxy factions: Seven women and little girls: two cases in “Olive Branch” area and five in “Euphrates Shield” area.

 

• Areas controlled by the Autonomous Administration: Five women.

 

• Areas controlled by Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham and opposition factions in Idlib: Three females, including a little girl.

 

Also, SOHR documented 26 arbitrary arrests of Syrian women across Syria in the first half of 2022 as follows:

 

• Areas controlled by Turkish forces and their proxy factions: 16 women.

 

• Regime-controlled areas: Eight women.

 

• Areas controlled by the Autonomous Administration: One woman.

 

• Areas controlled by Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham and opposition factions in Idlib: One woman.

 

In addition, five women were kidnapped in the same period, all cases were documented by SOHR in areas controlled by Turkish forces and their proxy factions.

 

 

Daily violations further burden Syrian women

 

Syrian women have suffered from orphanhood and hunger in a nation which has become on the threshold of an unprecedented famine, especially with the acute shortage of humanitarian assistance in light of the ongoing closure of crossings, through which UN humanitarian aid was crossing into Syria from Iraq and Jordan, because of Russia’s veto. Currently, Bab Al-Hawa crossing between Turkey and Syria remains the only path for delivering UN humanitarian aid to only a few areas in north-west Syria region.

 

Furthermore, Syrian women have endured oppression by employers who exploited the successive economic hardships and these women’s acute need of money, where many have found themselves forced to work for low wages which do not reach one US dollar a day, while some were forced to do work exceeding their physical abilities. Such practices contravene human rights and all international laws; let alone sexual extortion, which these women have experienced, by employers and other individuals in return for getting a little food for their hungry children at a time when many mothers have nothing to feed their babies but water-diluted cow milk.

 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has been all along warning against violating Syrian women’s dignity and right to live by several players, especially using them as a bargaining chip. Trading humanitarian aid in exchange of forcing women into sexual relationships is the most horrific side of exploitation, where many organisations concerned with defending women’s rights inside and outside Syria have highlighted a plethora of stories told of by victims. Also, reprehensible practices by the “Shabiha” (regime loyalists who abuse power and conduct illegal actions for the benefit of the regime), which have been manifested in taking over humanitarian aid provided to the poor and powerless civilians, have exacerbated the women’s conditions further. While entire batches of the seized humanitarian aid are sold publicly in markets in full view of the international community which seems indifferent to the poor, oppressed and ill women and children.

 

Ironically, the scores of sanctions imposed by several major powers on the Syrian regime and the opposition have only affected and starved ordinary civilians, leaving Syrians, women and children in particular, exposed to all methods of extortion and exploitation.

 

Similarly, the dilapidated economy, which is one of the severest by-products of the war in Syria, has forced many women to engage into the labour market, although the culture of women labour had been unfamiliar in many areas across Syria before the Syrian Revolution. These women, especially those who have lost fathers, brothers and/or husbands, only think of securing the needs of their families and attempting to cope with the dreadful living conditions; this, in turn, has made them shoulder extra burdens.

 

For over a decade, deadly military actions and devastating war have robbed an entire generation of their rights to attain education and live peacefully, with the Syrian regime clinging only to power and other parties adherent to specific foreign agendas.

 

Forcible and early marriage is another negative phenomenon that cannot be ignored in light of the dominance of the “law of jungle.” Many Syrian girls have been forced to drop out of school and marry unsuitable men just to satisfy the male-dominated society which unjustifiably assigns the responsibility for “violating morals and values” to females and see marriage of girls as “preservation of their honour.”

 

As a human rights organisation vowing, since 2007, to disclose all reprehensible practices and blatant violations committed against Syrian civilians and highlight real stories of victims devoted themselves to obtaining freedom and peace, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) renews its calls and appeals to all international institutions and authorities to intensify their advocacy campaigns by issuing statements and reports and adopting real stances supporting Syrian women and highlighting their plights.

 

We, at SOHR, renew our appeal to the international community not to abandon their responsibility and obligations to finding a lasting solution to the tragedy of millions of Syrian women, and we call for providing decent standards of living, reconstruction of destroyed schools and other vital institutions, rehabilitation of infrastructure and securing job opportunities for women.