Living in Deprivation
On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, SNHR has released its expanded annual report on the violations against women rights. This year’s report was named “Living in Deprivation”.
The report documents the various violations by the six parties to the conflict in Syria. The report methodology draws upon SNHR’s archives of victims, detainees, and forcibly-disappeared persons which has been built through ongoing monitoring and documentation since 2011. The report includes eight accounts by survivors including women who survived abduction, arrest, and sexual violence.
Fadel Abdul Ghani, chairman of SNHR, says:
“There is no place in the world where documenting violations is more difficult and complex than Syria. However, this task becomes immensely more difficult when the victims is a woman. It is not easy for a woman to reveal publicly, even under an alias, the violations she suffered in an environment that can turn the victim into the defendant, and look at her unnaturally. She would rather remain silent. We have to overcome that. On the other side, nonetheless, why would she come forward when no actions have been taken against any violation perpetrators in Syria and immunity is still the norm?”
The report documents the killing of 20,287 females at the hands of government forces who are divided into 10,862 adult females and 9425 female children, while Russian forces killed 668 females including 340 adult females in addition to 328 female children. The report also records that Kurdish Self-management forces killed 59 females who were divided into 22 adult females and 37 female children.
Furthermore, ISIS killed 358 females – 217 adult females and 141 female children, whereas Fateh Al Sham Front killed 74 females divided into 53 adult females and 21 female children.
Additionally, 798 females were killed by armed opposition factions including 407 adult females while the remaining 391 were female children. International coalition forces killed 144 females divided into 56 adult females and 88 female children. In addition, the report documents the killing of 435 females including 204 adult females in addition to 231 female children at the hands of unidentified groups.
The report records that no less than 8413 females were arrested and still being detained by government forces including 8111 adult females in addition to 302 female children. This includes 2418 women at least who are forcibly-disappeared. The report records that 39 females died due to torture at the hands of government forces.
The report notes that Kurdish Self-management forces detained 1819 women including 208 who are younger than 18 years of age. Among the women detainees are 49 forcibly-disappeared women. Additionally, the report records that death of one woman due to negligent health care inside a Self-management detention centers. ISIS arrested 714 females divided into 693 adult females and 21 female children including 205 who are forcibly-disappeared women while 13 females died due to torture. Additionally, armed opposition factions arrested 769 females divided into 407 adult females and 391 female children while the report records that no less than 2143 females were abducted and forcibly-disappeared by unidentified groups. Out of the 2143 females, 419 are female children while the remaining 1724 were adult females.
The report documents that women in Syria have been subjected to arrest, torture, and sexual violence while many women suffered from restrictive practices that limited their movement, out of fear of being assaulted, and included the enforcing of a pattern of clothes in ISIS’s areas of control.
The report calls on the European State to increase the rates of economic sanctions imposed on the two main supporters of the Syrian regime, Iran and Russia, and to Provide every possible assist for the civil society organizations that are involved in the rehabilitation and reintegration of women victims. Additionally, the report calls on the Security Council to take any possible steps in order to protect the Syrian woman and the Syrian society, and to apply pressure on the Syrian regime in order to let international observers, including the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, visit women detention centers without any restrictions.