Many Americans are familiar with the term Arab Spring and the country it is taking place it, Syria. After the unrest, the Syrian government cracked down on its protesters and shutdown its borders after many of its citizens started to flee. Syrians have fled into all surrounding countries including Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey. Syria has since closed its boarders to all Syrians and international guests. Tens of thousands of citizens have escaped across the border, most of them having ties to the rebel regime. Family members, who have stayed in Syria, are reportedly being tortured, beaten up and taken away, in retaliation to their relatives betrayal. Risking capture, citizens are paying large sums of money, to be smuggled across the border.
Government “Security Forces” have begun attacking villages to quell the unrest. Reports are coming in from a London-based Syrian Network say; Syria has enacted an old law that prevents woman from leaving the country without her husband and a letter of approval from him, certified by a judge and the security forces. If their spouses have already left the country, then the letter will be impossible to get. In many cases, the Security Forces will outright deny any approval letter. In the wake of the borders being shutdown, UN monitoring parties are being pulled out of Syria, due to protests being violently put to rest. The next step the UN could take would be to send in Peacekeeping troops.
Government “Security Forces” have begun attacking villages to quell the unrest. Reports are coming in from a London-based Syrian Network say; Syria has enacted an old law that prevents woman from leaving the country without her husband and a letter of approval from him, certified by a judge and the security forces. If their spouses have already left the country, then the letter will be impossible to get. In many cases, the Security Forces will outright deny any approval letter. In the wake of the borders being shutdown, UN monitoring parties are being pulled out of Syria, due to protests being violently put to rest. The next step the UN could take would be to send in Peacekeeping troops.
I recently read a blog post on the website Women Under Siege dealing with issues like the one described above. The post titled, The cartography of suffering: Women Under Siege maps sexualized violence in Syria, addresses the violence against women in Syria and gives a voice to those that would normally go unheard. The post above illustrates just one example of a lack of woman's rights in Syria. I have attached a link to the website below.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.womenundersiegeproject.org/blog/entry/the-cartography-of-suffering-women-under-siege-maps-sexualized-violence-in
Thank you for the link.
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