DAMASCUS, 6 April 2009 (IRIN) - UN agencies working in Syria are worried about high levels of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in the Iraqi refugee community.
No comprehensive statistics on SGBV are available for Syria but local studies and anecdotal evidence suggest that the rate of GBV among the refugees is much higher than among the Syrian population.
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) identified nearly 500 Iraqi victims of SGBV between January and August 2008. Its update in August 2008 said: “At least 450 survivors of SGBV have been identified since January 2008, making an average of 13 per week.” The most common types of SGBV, said the report, included rape, forced prostitution, trafficking, forced marriage, domestic violence and sexual exploitation.
“We have noticed a problem with both physical and emotional abuse,” said Carole Laleve, a spokesperson for the UNHCR. “The number of cases coming to our attention has risen but that may be due to an increased willingness to seek help.”
Other agencies report similar findings. “Our anecdotal evidence suggests the rate of GBV in the Iraqi community is higher than in the Syrian one,” said Theodora Tsovili, a psychosocial specialist at the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). “Adolescents have particular psychosocial vulnerabilities and since the end of 2007 UNICEF has been running a programme of SGBV prevention among young women and men.”
Over 1.2 millions Iraqis fled their country following the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the outbreak of sectarian violence in its aftermath.
Experts say they are not surprised by the higher and continued occurrence of violence, given the vulnerability of Iraqis in Syria.
Behaviour change
“The Iraqis who fled to Syria are often suffering from post-traumatic disorders, most have a family member who was killed or tortured, often in front of them,” said Ilham Moussa, who works on the UN Population Fund’s (UNFPA’s) US$200,000 humanitarian programme to support the Ministry of Health’s services.
“Injuries can also cause behaviour to change and make people more violent,” she added.
Other risk factors such as low income and changes in family roles, such as women becoming the main earners, are also present in the Iraqi community in Syria. These factors expose them to greater risk of SGBV than the Syrian population.
Suffering in silence
The real levels of SGBV are likely to be underestimated given the reluctance of women, who are usually the victims, to speak out. Doctors in Damascus and the northeastern city of Al-Hassakeh, where most Iraqi refugees live, have reported a number of cases of SGBV in Iraqi families.
“Often women are scared to say anything. They think they will be marginalised by their community and have no source of income,” said one doctor from the Dummar suburb of Damascus. “They think about their families and their children and decide that it is better to suffer in silence.”
The UNHCR says its outreach programme, in which a group of Iraqi women are trained to raise awareness by talking to their peers about SGBV, is helping Iraqi women to feel able to talk and seek help. “It is a very sensitive issue but now the women are much more open,” says Laleve. “There is a lot of pride at the start but as they trust the outreach workers and their desperation increases, they do start to talk.”
Workshops
Other initiatives to tackle the SGBV are in progress and many more are being planned. UNFPA runs a humanitarian programme which has run six workshops for health professionals in the affected areas on how to deal with victims of violence - both Iraqi and Syrian as they use the same health system.
Health professionals who attended the workshops in Damascus at the end of 2008 were taught how to detect SGBV, which tests to offer victims, and the codes of confidentiality for dealing with them. They were also taught counselling techniques, including methods to teach women how to diffuse violent situations at home.
The Ministry of Health is finalising the first set of guidelines on dealing with victims of abuse. Other organisations such as the French development organisation, IECD, are developing SGBV programmes for the Iraqi population. Several shelters are available for referral of the most serious cases.
Showing posts with label Syria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Syria. Show all posts
Monday, April 6, 2009
Monday, December 1, 2008
Jordan: First all-female demining team in Middle East
AMMAN, 1 December 2008 (IRIN) - An all-female team of 24 deminers, the first of its kind in the Middle East, started its official duties on 30 November, working alongside dozens of men who have been combing a mine-infested area on the Syrian border.
The group graduated on 25 November after intensive training in the border town of Jaber conducted by specialists from the Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), which is funding demining in northern Jordan.
"It is a challenge that I take with pride," said Fida, one of the graduates.
"Fida could have worked in any office job thanks to her university degree, but she chose to be a member of the first demining team to help residents of this town," said NPA spokeswoman Lina Gazi. “We want to show everybody that women can do anything men can do.”
In a statement on 25 November, NPA said 38 women aged 20-36 from villages in the northern area of Mafraq began training in October 2008. Of these, 24 completed the full course and have formed the first female demining team in the Middle East.
“Gender equality and women’s empowerment are some of the pillars of NPA’s work. We have formed female demining teams in many countries, including Sudan, Angola and Croatia,” said Stephen Bryant, NPA programme manager in Jordan. Demining statistics showed that while female deminers may be slower than their male counterparts, their work is more thorough, he said.
The 24 women will join the ranks of NPA deminers working in the Northern Border Mine Clearance Project, clearing the last minefields in Jordan, which date from the 1967 war with Israel and political tension with neighbouring Syria in the 1970s.
The demining project will remove the landmine threat hanging over 50,000 civilians, enable completion of the Wihda Dam on the Jordanian-Syrian border, and allow construction of a free trade zone between Jordan and Syria.
Technicians said army maps did not show the exact location of mines, many of which had shifted position due to weather conditions.
The US$10 million mine clearance project involves over 100 mine specialists, including members of the local community, and is supported, among others, by Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan and Norway.
-- IRIN
The group graduated on 25 November after intensive training in the border town of Jaber conducted by specialists from the Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), which is funding demining in northern Jordan.
"It is a challenge that I take with pride," said Fida, one of the graduates.
"Fida could have worked in any office job thanks to her university degree, but she chose to be a member of the first demining team to help residents of this town," said NPA spokeswoman Lina Gazi. “We want to show everybody that women can do anything men can do.”
In a statement on 25 November, NPA said 38 women aged 20-36 from villages in the northern area of Mafraq began training in October 2008. Of these, 24 completed the full course and have formed the first female demining team in the Middle East.
“Gender equality and women’s empowerment are some of the pillars of NPA’s work. We have formed female demining teams in many countries, including Sudan, Angola and Croatia,” said Stephen Bryant, NPA programme manager in Jordan. Demining statistics showed that while female deminers may be slower than their male counterparts, their work is more thorough, he said.
The 24 women will join the ranks of NPA deminers working in the Northern Border Mine Clearance Project, clearing the last minefields in Jordan, which date from the 1967 war with Israel and political tension with neighbouring Syria in the 1970s.
The demining project will remove the landmine threat hanging over 50,000 civilians, enable completion of the Wihda Dam on the Jordanian-Syrian border, and allow construction of a free trade zone between Jordan and Syria.
Technicians said army maps did not show the exact location of mines, many of which had shifted position due to weather conditions.
The US$10 million mine clearance project involves over 100 mine specialists, including members of the local community, and is supported, among others, by Australia, Canada, the European Union, Japan and Norway.
-- IRIN
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Syria: Women want female muftis
Syria: Women want female muftis
IWPR, Syria - The Grand Mufti Ahmed Badr Hasun, the top Muslim cleric in Syria, announced that female graduates of Islamic law colleges are being trained to become muftis who will counsel women on religious matters.
The Grand Mufti Ahmed Badr Hasun also made it clear that some female muftis would be appointed to the Iftaa Council, a body which he chairs and which oversees the issuing of fatwas, or religious edicts.
Syrian women have largely welcomed the news that female muftis are to be trained up to fill a role that has generally been monopolised by men.
Muftis are Islamic scholars who are empowered to provide religious guidance on personal and political matters. Until now, women in Syria, as in many countries, have had to turn to male muftis even when their concerns are gender-specific or personal.
“Iftaa [the giving of counsel] is a difficult task and a huge responsibility that men are barely able to hardly shoulder,” said a 41-year-old devoutly Muslim woman from Damascus countryside.
“Iftaa for women’s matters is a good thing. It saves women being embarrassed about issues such as marital relations and other things that they are sensitive about, like menstruation.”
Hasun made the comments during a visit by American academics to Damascus [early June], but it was not the first time he has discussed the programme for women muftis. According to a February 2006 report by the United Nations Development Programme, Hasun told representatives of this UN agency of plans to appoint two female members of the Iftaa Council, and said women had served as muftis in earlier times. The news was not widely reported in Syria or abroad.
Hasun repeated the case for female muftis when he met the US scholars, and reportedly said dozens of women were being trained.
A male teacher of Sharia or Islamic law at a Damascus high school, speaking on condition of anonymity, welcomed the decision.
“Women are permitted to be appointed muftis under Sharia,” he said. “In Islamic history there have been a large number of female muftis and jurists.”
He said that female muftis must fulfil the same requirements as men by demonstrating the right level of knowledge of Islam, having a reputation as a pious individual, and receiving official permission to issue fatwas.
This unusual step has raised some debate on the internet. While many Arab women have praised the decision, some religious conservatives oppose it.
The decision is not expected to be controversial in Syria, as it comes from the top of the official Muslim clerical establishment.
A 22-year-old female student of Islamic law at Damascus University said the decision “pushed forward the rights that Islam accords to women, and elevates them as a result”.
Civil society activists generally welcomed the announcement but said women should be placed on the same footing as male muftis.
“From our point of view, it’s essential that women participate in fiqh [interpretation of Islamic law] and fatwa,” said Bassam al-Qadhi, director of Syria’s Women Watch.
But he added that the decision, as reported, “implies discrimination”.
“Women will only be able to give religious guidance for women and on specific issues, while men will still be able to provide guidance for both men and women,” he said.
Rather than use muftis, some devout Muslim women prefer to rely on their own resources.
One 49-year-old gynaecologist from Hama, for instance, said she would not be going to a female mufti for religious guidance, just as she has not consulted male muftis.
“I believe in thinking and using reason instead of referring to others in my life and religion,” she said. “I can refer to books on fiqh when I face a problem.”
The doctor noted that fatwas could be controversial, and said, “This trend should be limited, rather than expanded by allowing more people to provide guidance. If anyone is interested in empowering women, there are thousands of neglected areas to consider, instead of giving them the right to issue fatwas.”
---Human Rights Tribune, July 2, 2008
IWPR, Syria - The Grand Mufti Ahmed Badr Hasun, the top Muslim cleric in Syria, announced that female graduates of Islamic law colleges are being trained to become muftis who will counsel women on religious matters.
The Grand Mufti Ahmed Badr Hasun also made it clear that some female muftis would be appointed to the Iftaa Council, a body which he chairs and which oversees the issuing of fatwas, or religious edicts.
Syrian women have largely welcomed the news that female muftis are to be trained up to fill a role that has generally been monopolised by men.
Muftis are Islamic scholars who are empowered to provide religious guidance on personal and political matters. Until now, women in Syria, as in many countries, have had to turn to male muftis even when their concerns are gender-specific or personal.
“Iftaa [the giving of counsel] is a difficult task and a huge responsibility that men are barely able to hardly shoulder,” said a 41-year-old devoutly Muslim woman from Damascus countryside.
“Iftaa for women’s matters is a good thing. It saves women being embarrassed about issues such as marital relations and other things that they are sensitive about, like menstruation.”
Hasun made the comments during a visit by American academics to Damascus [early June], but it was not the first time he has discussed the programme for women muftis. According to a February 2006 report by the United Nations Development Programme, Hasun told representatives of this UN agency of plans to appoint two female members of the Iftaa Council, and said women had served as muftis in earlier times. The news was not widely reported in Syria or abroad.
Hasun repeated the case for female muftis when he met the US scholars, and reportedly said dozens of women were being trained.
A male teacher of Sharia or Islamic law at a Damascus high school, speaking on condition of anonymity, welcomed the decision.
“Women are permitted to be appointed muftis under Sharia,” he said. “In Islamic history there have been a large number of female muftis and jurists.”
He said that female muftis must fulfil the same requirements as men by demonstrating the right level of knowledge of Islam, having a reputation as a pious individual, and receiving official permission to issue fatwas.
This unusual step has raised some debate on the internet. While many Arab women have praised the decision, some religious conservatives oppose it.
The decision is not expected to be controversial in Syria, as it comes from the top of the official Muslim clerical establishment.
A 22-year-old female student of Islamic law at Damascus University said the decision “pushed forward the rights that Islam accords to women, and elevates them as a result”.
Civil society activists generally welcomed the announcement but said women should be placed on the same footing as male muftis.
“From our point of view, it’s essential that women participate in fiqh [interpretation of Islamic law] and fatwa,” said Bassam al-Qadhi, director of Syria’s Women Watch.
But he added that the decision, as reported, “implies discrimination”.
“Women will only be able to give religious guidance for women and on specific issues, while men will still be able to provide guidance for both men and women,” he said.
Rather than use muftis, some devout Muslim women prefer to rely on their own resources.
One 49-year-old gynaecologist from Hama, for instance, said she would not be going to a female mufti for religious guidance, just as she has not consulted male muftis.
“I believe in thinking and using reason instead of referring to others in my life and religion,” she said. “I can refer to books on fiqh when I face a problem.”
The doctor noted that fatwas could be controversial, and said, “This trend should be limited, rather than expanded by allowing more people to provide guidance. If anyone is interested in empowering women, there are thousands of neglected areas to consider, instead of giving them the right to issue fatwas.”
---Human Rights Tribune, July 2, 2008
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)