Since the rise of the Arab Spring in 2011-2012, over 250,000 Syrians have died, and another 11 million have been forced out of their homes, into deplorable conditions of poverty and famine. Of the 4.5 million Syrians who have fled the country in search of refuge, the majority have been women and children. The civil war, spawned by anti-government protests, of which many women originally participated in, has greatly escalated. As a result, many Syrian men have died, leaving the state in the hands of their displaced wives, now deemed heads of household. Hillary Margolis writes, “Many women have become de facto household heads, both inside Syria and in refugee settings, when male family members have been killed, detained, forcibly disappeared, injured, disabled, or unable to find steady employment” (Margolis). This shift in gender majority has strengthened the ever-present female oppression found within Arab society, yet alternately has afforded opportunities of mobility for some women.

In a patriarchal world, all women face various forms of oppression. In the United States, it’s glass ceilings and boys clubs, in Africa, it’s genital mutilation and forced prostitution, but in Syria, the civil unrest, combined with invasions by the Islamic State forces, has allowed for an evolution of female oppression. Still subject to a male-dominant system, and left stranded by the loss of their husbands and fathers to war, even educated and financially secure women are no longer safe. Val Morgan, from Sciaf, an aid partner establishing sexual violence support systems within Syria, stated “Many Syrian women and young girls now fleeing the war are alone, isolated and more vulnerable to attack than ever” (Huffington Post. “Syria’s Women, Many Raped in Refugee Centres, Long to Return Home”).

Of the women left behind, those who protest and decry the government are detained, then are subjected to rape and torture at the hands of the Syrian police, often as punishment, but also in exchange for survival, as recalled by Maisa, a 30-year-old nurse who was often searched and held for her activism in supporting women’s rights. She stated that “To get food or make phone calls, some women would have sex with the policemen” (Margolis). The less educated women, mothers who remain in their homes, left to care for, protect, and provide for their children, are left exposed to police, ISIL forces, and rebel fighters, and are often raped, tortured, and killed, solely as victims of sexual violence in a male-dominated, war-torn society.

Within refugee camps, women still face great danger, not only from the rebel forces in control, but from civilian men within the camps. One aid worker found that within the 500,000 refugees living in Jordan, “many Syrian girls are forced into {marriage} so their family no longer has to be responsible for them” (Huffington Post. “Syria’s Women, Many Raped in Refugee Centres, Long to Return Home”). Even those whose husbands are alive face threats of increased domestic abuse due to the shift in domestic and labor trends within the camps. Najila Chanda, director of Caritas Lebanon Migrant Centre, finds that “Men are more stressed, frustrated and becoming more violent with the women” (Huffington Post. “Syria’s Women, Many Raped in Refugee Centres, Long to Return Home”). The systematic gender stipulations within Syria have not been eradicated, or even lessened, by the shift in gender majority, but rather have increased and worsened.

The majority of women, especially those in refugee camps, or those who have been otherwise displaced, are experiencing the Syrian Civil War as victims, outsiders impacted by the crossfire between the government and the armed rebellion, attacks from the Islamic State, and the underlying oppression of women in general. The article “Syria: The Story of the Conflict” states that “A UN commission of inquiry has evidence that all parties to the conflict have committed war crimes- including murder, torture, rape and enforced disappearances. They have also been accused of using civilian suffering…as a method of war” (Rodgers, et al.). This information highlights the true victims in this war as the civilians, of which the large majority are women and children. Margolis finds that “These women are not only bearing the burden of conflict but are persevering in spite of it, often at great personal risk” (Margolis).

Many of the women, especially those trained and educated in various fields, actively try to assist other refugees and rebel fighters, only to find opposition and threat from the government. In Margolis’ interviews, she spoke with two women who were detained for supplying medical assistance. One woman, Maisa, spoke of police officers in uniform sexually harassing and torturing female detainees. Another young woman, Bervian, was forced to flee the Yarmouk refugee camp she was helping in, as she was “Wanted by both the armed Islamist groups and by government forces for providing humanitarian assistance in the camp” and had been forced to close her pharmacy down, threatened by ISIS fighters “because she wasn’t wearing a full-length abaya” (Margolis). These situations speak volumes to the continued female oppression that underscores the treatment of civilian women in war-torn Syria.

In addition to sexual and physical abuse at the hands of the police, rebels, civilians, and the Islamic State forces, starvation, filthy living conditions, and the loss of their husbands and children, have added to the toll that the Syrian Civil War has had on women. “Pawel Krzysiek, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, told the Associated Foreign Press news agency that…Mothers were so malnourished they were not producing milk, and there was no way to feed newborns and young babies, he was told” (Rodgers, et al).

There has been little to no humanitarian assistance to refugee camps within Syria since November 2015. As UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reported in December 2015, “the parties to the conflict continued to entirely or heavily restrict access to besieged areas” (BBC News. “Syria Conflict: Civilians Under Siege”). Beyond the poor living conditions and lack of medical care, Syrian women, and especially those still living in their homes, are subjected to random bombings and attacks from the ISIL and Syrian government. Amal, a 44-year-old mother of 5, tells of losing 4 of her children when a barrel bomb hit her home in Aleppo. Such is the case for many women, having lost their children and homes in bombings, their husbands to opposition efforts, and their past identities in their displacement into refugee camps. Between starvation, abuse, and loss of family, the women of Syria have been doubly impacted by the incredibly harsh and oppressive conditions of war.

Photojournalist Zaina Erhaim finds that “Daily life goes on amidst the ruins”, stating in the title of her piece that “As war continues to rage, women are finding ways to stay connected” (Erhaim). She finds that the lack of communicative ability in Aleppo, one of the most dangerous and affected cities within Syria, “has applied yet another layer of isolation to women, significantly affecting their ability to engage with both the outside world and the community in Syria- effectively keeping them marginalized” (Erhaim). This prohibition of information is designed to suppress the rebellion efforts through lack of communication and by handicapping widespread anti-nationalism, in addition to limiting women’s knowledge of war conditions and keeping them separated from efforts of assistance.

Through satellite internet access, many women in Aleppo are finding their voice in an otherwise muted world. As insiders to areas that have been cut off from all communication, these women provide great insight to the events unfolding within the crisis. In addition to providing an outlet for female perspectives of suffering and displacement in war-torn Syria, Hadia Almansor, a mother of 5 living in Aleppo, tells Erhaim “I am supporting my family financially because of the Internet” (Erhaim). Even among the immense and intensifying oppression many women face in the midst of the Syrian Civil War, there are instances of mobility and female perseverance.

In seeming opposition to the increased despotism that most Syrian women are facing in the Syrian Crisis, some women have assumed the roles of leaders and fighters. In place of their deceased husbands, fathers, and other male family members, many women are finding “their first opportunity for independence and empowerment in the traditionally male-dominated society” (Ashrafi). In particular, a group of Kurdish women, as part of the People’s Protection Movement, have “stayed behind in Northern Syria and taken up arms to rebuild and reclaim their lives (Ashrafi). No longer bound to their homes by duty and religion, these women are educating and empowering themselves in order to effectively fight for their freedom.

Gabriel Gatehouse, writing for BBC News, finds that “Around a third of the Syrian Kurdish force is made up of women. On the front lines they fight alongside the men, taking the same risks and facing the same dangers” (Gatehouse). Only while sacrificing their lives for the freedoms of their people do these women find equality among men. Even still, the mobility and raise in overall status that these women experience is born solely of the shift in gender majority caused by the crisis. These opportunities for equality are limited to the fighting lines, and still provide no true rise in status for women, as a gender.

In regards to the gender implications of the Syrian Civil War, women are more threatened than before, due to displacement, detainment, and the exposure that the shift in gender majority has provided. Conversely, there has been some increase in mobility and equality among Kurdish women fighters in Northern Syria, with many more joining in, and several acquiring positions of leadership. In addition to the Kurdish fighters, many women still living in their decimated cities and suburbs, who have been afforded access to the Internet, have developed a normally-suppressed voice, one that tells of the horrors and crimes going on in this volatile state. Yet, despite these limited cases of gender mobility, the effects of the Syrian Civil War on the overall patriarchal Arab system have been minimal, and have primarily served to support increased gender limitations on women.

Works Cited

Ashrafi, Maryam. “Meet The Brave Women Fighting ISIS in Syria.” Huffington Post. March 9, 2016, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kurdish-women-fighting-isis_us_56e05e98e4b065e2e3d46569. Accessed 9/20/2016.

Erhaim, Zaina. “Inside rebel-held Aleppo: As war continues to rage, women are finding ways to stay connected.” www.medium.com. https://medium.com/not-evenly-distributed/inside-rebel-held-aleppo-as-war-continues-to-rage-women-are-finding-ways-to-stay-connected-4216687ef637#.votcnfr42. Accessed 9/21/2016.

Gatehouse, Gabriel. “The Kurdish female fighters bringing the fight to IS.” BBC News. September 5, 2014. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29085242. Accessed 9/18/2016.

Margolis, Hillary. “Women and the War in Syria.” July 21, 2014. Fpif.org. http://fpif.org/women-war-syria/. Accessed 9/20/2016

Rodgers, Lucy, Gritten, David, Offer, James and Asare, Patrick. “Syria: The story of the conflict.” BBC News. March 11, 2016.  http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26116868. Accessed 9/19/2016.

“Syria conflict: Civilians under siege.” BBC News. January 7, 2016. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35250772. Accessed 9/19/2016.

“Syria’s Women, Many Raped in Refugee Centres, Long to Return Home.” Huffington Post. October 26, 2013. http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/10/26/syria-women-rape_n_4166185.html. Accessed 9/21/2016.