Introduction
Gender equality, one of the essential human rights, plays a crucial role in ensuring peace and harmony in society and the full realization of human potential through sustainable development. However, humanity has a long way to achieve full equality for men and women in terms of their rights and opportunities. A vivid example of the effect of political disagreements on women’s rights is the Syrian conflict. For most women in Syria, the civil war turned into a disaster, but at the same time, this conflict created the conditions for new opportunities.
New Opportunities for Women
In February 2011, a war broke out in Syria as part of the Arab Spring movements. The conflict involved many parties, such as the Syrian government, rebel groups, terrorist funds, international authorities, and religious groups (Boulos, 2019). The war-affected the Syrian social structure, culture, economy, and gender roles. On the one hand, political conflict or war can lead to social changes, part of which is the political and economic status of women, which has led to increased political activity and gender awareness.
The main reason for a low percentage of women in the workforce is Syrian social norms, which stereotypically reflect the role of women in homes serving their husbands and in the private sector. The Syrian government has begun to open up new types of jobs for women; for example, the companies accept women as bus drivers; this decision was the result of labor shortages. A transformation occurs in the Syrian workforce; women currently work in areas and opportunities that were previously only associated with men (Boulos, 2019). While Syrian men were involved in armed conflict, which led to the fact that many were away from their families, women became heads of households and were responsible for them.
Violation of Women’s Rights
The war was a turning point for all Syrian society, especially for Syrian women. When the Syrian individuals attempted to keep the rebellion as quiet as conceivable, ladies from diverse ranges and religions organized peaceful demonstrations (Habib, 2018). Nevertheless, insecurity and discriminatory restrictions on women intensified when the peaceful era of rebellion ended, and violence increased in most Syrian areas. The opposite development took place under the control of armed extremist groups: women and girls were discriminatory, including strict dress codes, restrictions on women’s participation in public life, access to education and employment.
The change in gender roles has affected the lives of Syrian teenage girls who have been forced to drop out of school to maintain the economy of their families. For some of them, the war forced them to ask for money or provide sex for survival. In the south of the country, Syrian women are sexually exploited by men who distribute aid delivery items on behalf of international organizations such as the United Nations (Ahram, 2019). Women were even afraid to go to distribution points because society would assume that they would offer sex to get help. According to Ms. Spencer from an international care organization, “sexual exploitation and abuse of women and girls have been ignored, it has been known about and ignored for seven years, the UN and the system as it currently stands have chosen for women’s bodies to be sacrificed” (BBC News, 2019). World leaders are also trying to draw attention to women’s situation, but until the political conflict stops, it is impossible to intervene in this problem.
Besides, there are many examples of gender-based violence against refugee women, especially when they move outside their homes, such as sexual harassment, physical abuse, and rape (Habib, 2018). Women and girls are considered vulnerable groups, chiefly widows or women, without any protection from men. Some women in camps pretend to talk to their husbands on the phone to protect themselves from violence. Moreover, Syrian security forces regularly and with impunity use sexual abuse to humiliate and crush detainees. The actual extent of sexual violence in and around prisons remains unknown (Banwell, 2018). However, prisoners who were sexually abused in prison did not receive any medical or psychological assistance.
Many women who have been humiliated by husbands, soldiers, and the government express their opinions in the international arena. According to pregnant 16-year-old women, “Women’s circumstances have worsened a lot. Our husbands are constantly nervous and tense. They often curse us and use physical violence against us.” (The Independent News, 2020). Women want to be heard and helped, but in some cases, women conceal acts of violence, as this is considered improper and shameful action from Syrian society.
Conclusion
The individual transformation destroys the gender stereotype around the typical image of Syrian women, from passivity to active actors in society through participation in socio-economic life. These changes in the status of women still occur on an individual level to support positive transformations and expand them to transform society, non-governmental organizations, civil society, and stakeholders must intervene. These participants can play two roles in parallel, on the one hand, strengthen positive factors and reduce negative factors, through special organized programs and events. On the other hand, it is working on several strategies to introduce new laws into the Syrian legal framework to protect women’s rights and support the positive changes taking place in gender roles.
References
Ahram, A. I. (2019). Sexual violence, competitive state building, and Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Journal of intervention and statebuilding, 13(2), 180-196. Web.
Banwell, S. (2018). Security, peace and development: Unpacking discursive constructions of wartime rape and sexual violence in Syria. International journal of peace and development studies, 9(2), 15-30. Web.
BBC News. (2019). Syrian women ‘made to trade sex for aid’. Web.
Boulos, C. (2019). The change in gender roles in the Syrian conflict and its effect on womens rights [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of Essex.
Habib, N. (2018). Gender role changes and their impacts on Syrian women refugees in Berlin in light of the Syrian crisis, WZB Discussion Paper, No. SP VI 2018-101, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung, Berlin.
The Independent News. (2020). Syrian women still gravely suffering nine years on: ‘Husbands refrain from having a sexual life with them. They just leave them’. Web.