Understanding women’s experience of violence and the political economy of gender in conflict: the case of Syria

Abstract

Political conflicts create significant risks for women, as new forms and pathways of violence emerge, and existing patterns of violence may get amplified and intensified. The systematic use of sexual violence as a tactic of war is well-documented. Emergent narratives from the Middle East also highlight increasing risk and incidence of violence among displaced populations in refugee camps in countries bordering states affected by conflict. However, much less is known about the changing nature of violence and associated risks and lived experiences of women across a continuum of violence faced within the country and across national borders. Discussion on violence against women (VAW) in conflict settings is often stripped of an understanding of the changing political economy of the state and how it structures gender relations, before, during and after a conflict, creating particular risks of violence and shaping women's experiences. Drawing on a review of grey and published literature and authors' experiences, this paper examines this underexplored dimension of VAW in political conflicts, by identifying risk environments and lived realities of violence experienced by women in the Syrian conflict, a context that is itself poorly understood. We argue for multi-level analysis of women's experiences of violence, taking into account the impact of the political economy of the wider region as shaping the lived realities of violence and women's response, as well as their access to resources for resistance and recovery.

Security, peace and development: Unpacking discursive constructions of wartime rape and sexual violence in Syria

“…While there is no denying that the crimes being committed against civilians in Syria are serious and require international attention and humanitarian aid, a number of writers are concerned about the selective focus on rape at the expense of other forms of atrocities perpetrated in Syria (Alsaba and Kapilashrami, 2016;Crawford et al, 2014;Meger 2016aMeger , 2016b. For selective reporting of wartime rape more generally see Cohen et al, 2013, Hirschauer, 2014.…”

“…To elaborate, the problem with such reporting is that over-estimating the problem can mean that accurately reported levels of wartime rape seem minor by comparison; it also, as they point out, marginalizes other forms of wartime sexual violence, as well as other forms of violence and Gender-based Violence (GBV) (Crawford et al, 2014). As Alsaba and Kapilashrami (2016) point out -with specific reference to women -the spectrum of violence Syrian women and girls have been subjected to is wide-ranging. Indeed, in the context of a deeply patriarchal society, women"s increased participation in public life (resulting from the absence of their husbands due to the conflict) leaves them vulnerable to abuse and exploitation (Human Rights Watch (HRW), 2014; UNHCR, 2015; Women"s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), 2016).…”

“…The Syrian government also detained women in order to trade them for the weapons of armed opposition groups (WILPF, 2016). Women have also been executed, tortured and enslaved; denied access to fair trials and, denied access to healthcare (Alsaba and Kapilashrami, 2016;Universal Periodic Review, 2016). The deliberate targeting of schools also has implications for GBV.…”

“…Furthermore, treating female victims as a homogenous group is also problematic. As Alsaba and Kapilashrami (2016) point out, during ISIS" reign, while all women living under ISIS-controlled areas faced "punishments" if they violated the regulatory codes laid down by the group (HRW, 2014;Spencer et al, 2015), empirical analyses place different women (heads of household and unmarried women and girls) at more risk than others. Writers have highlighted the problems with such representations that universalize the experiences of women (Puechguirbal, 2010;Wilcox, 2015).…”

“…In addition to soldiers on the ground, Russia has carried out airstrikes against opposition groups (Beauchamp, 2017). This complex network of external actors, and their direct role in facilitating and maintaining the conflict, transformed this into a proxy war (Alsaba and Kapilashrami, 2016).…”