The WHRD Coalition in the Middle East and Africa has released a new report documenting the extreme violence and other challenges faced by women human rights defenders (WHRD) during the six-year Syrian conflict, both in Syria and in Syrian refugee communities. This includes assassination, torture, rape, harassment and disappearances perpetrated by the Syrian government, armies, state police and non-state militias. Additionally, as a result of the widespread assumption that women are raped while in prison, WHRD often face potential violence and honor killings once they return to their families or communities.
The report’s recommendations include intervention from the International community and the United Nations, internal pressure on all actors to release detainees and provide support for reintegration into their communities, adequate resources and support to assist WHRDs with their work, ensuring that WHRDs are included in any dialogue regarding the future of Syria and the refugees, and education about, and legal protections for, the work of WHRDs.
Compiled from: The Status of Women Human Rights Defenders in Syria, The WHRD Coalition in the Middle East and North Africa (December 7, 2016).