RAPE as a weapon has played a role in conflict zones and wars, because of its overwhelming ability to silence, cripple, demoralize and dehumanize its targets. It exploits women's bodies in power struggles as a symbol of domination and control over disputed territory and power more broadly. Nearly two years ago in March 2011 mass protests in Syria were rampant. What started off as peaceful demonstrations soon escalated into a bloody sectarian civil war wherein Syrian women held their own. Women have played leading roles in organizing and supporting the uprising, which called for reform and the ouster of President Bashar Al-Assad. Sadly today, many of Syria's females are in hiding, in exile or are being seriously mistreated by their male comrades. The crisis in Syria has taken advantage of the innocent and tainted a peaceful revolution. Both the regime security forces and the opposition fighters are to blame for crimes that have been committed against humanity and crimes of war. Reported cases of violence, rape and sexual abuse have surfaced from this power grab. The atrocities have witnessed myriad forms of torture; yet another self-destructive weapon in Syria's mounting crises. Women Under Siege (WUS), an independent initiative that has documented rape and other forms of sexualized violence, has shed light on the innumerable crimes that are devastating Syria. The organization examines means of abuse in both genocide and conflict and how women have consistently fallen prey. ?Is this dissipation of basic morale the result of warfare? Didn't this revolution start out because people were demanding freedom and equality? Human Rights Watch (HRW) has reported that army and security defectors indicate that "no action has been taken to investigate or punish government forces and Shabiha (thugs) who have committed acts of sexual violence". The Syrian first lady, Asma Al-Assad, has repeatedly and publicly portrayed herself as a self-proclaimed champion of women's rights, and yet her silence in the face of ongoing atrocities is demeaning. These are her people, her women and her daughters that are suffering at the hands of not just government forces but armed militiamen. The struggle for power in Syria has brought about a weapon of war that was last seen in the Rwandan genocide; a weapon used against its own people. Much of the information that has been disseminated about this subject sources a few brave women who spoke with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) from makeshift refugee camps in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon. They spoke of kidnap, rape, torture and most of all, cold blooded murder. According to the IRC report, rape is a "significant and disturbing" feature of the Syrian civil war. Women allege they were dragged away from their families and sometimes gang-raped both privately and publicly. Refugees assert this has been a key reason for their displacement from their country. Some women were impregnated by their rapists and faced with familial and societal shame; they were shunned by their husbands, children, and communities. Syrian women have been judged and persecuted. Neither the regime nor the armed opposition fighters have been singled out in this conflict, as they have both played a hand in this shocking display of violence and demoralization. What is more alarming is the difficulty in estimating the precise number of rape cases and various abuses against women, particularly in light of the taboo nature of sexualized violence. ?Lauren Wolfe, the director of WUS, has released several publications on this subject, and what caught my eye was that most of the females she spoke with did not reveal their identity. “We have no photos of women whose faces aren't covered. We have few photos of survivors of rape even with their faces covered” says Wolfe. Syrian women are victimized even after fleeing the crisis to reportedly “safe zones”, both inside the country and in neighboring Arab states. In Wolfe's case, it took a man to speak out. In one personal account, she spoke with a male taxi driver who drove her home from London's Heathrow Airport. He revealed details of his nationality as a Syrian, who sought refuge in the UK. The man also noted that even though leaving Syria was hard, he had an even harder choice to make. While traveling through Syria from Zabadani to Damascus, his car was pulled over at a security checkpoint. Regime soldiers demanded that he hand over his daughter and threatened to murder his wife and children right before his eyes should he protest. The man was forced to comply with the soldiers demands and gave his daughter away. Just days ago, Syria's UN ambassador, Bashar Jaafari, announced that Syria has allowed NGOs to operate within areas in dire need of humanitarian assistance. He vowed that all those responsible for sexual crimes against women will be tried. But this begs the question: Has Jaafari's pledge arrived too late.
— Sophie Ghaziri is a Shift Editor at Al Arabiya English. Follow her on Twitter: @sophieghaziri http://english.alarabiya.net/
