Amid the ongoing battles with rebel forces and the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime, the media often ignores sexual violence and crimes against women. As the fighting escalates in the country, the regime’s militias have turned to rape and threats of rape to inspire fear in the opposition. Manal Omar from the United States Institute of Peace posits that the government employs these tactics because “rape breaks the spirit,” and in the increasingly socially conservative nation of Syria, the stigma associated with sexual activity, though unsolicited, and the psychological damage caused by rape can tear apart “the very social fabric that sustains the opposition in their fight for freedom.” By sexually harassing and violating young women, soldiers simultaneously target the familial bonds of rebels, compelling fighters to leave the battle and protect their female relatives. The surge in sexual violence as a weapon of war is thus a result of the regime’s willingness to resort to brutality to defeat the rebel units.
Even before the Syrian civil war, the regime of Moammar Gadhafi committed similarly horrific practices against revolutionary groups in Libya. To shatter the will of the opposition, women stopped at checkpoints were gang-raped by police for wearing the flag of the rebels, and soldiers repeatedly raped members of the same families as pro-Gadhafi forces moved through the villages. The government reportedly ordered and paid these soldiers to freely assault the women and gave them sexual enhancement drugs, condoms and small cameras to maintain an operation of systematic and widespread rape. Although the government initially denied using rape as a tool of war to break down the opposition, UN investigators found pervasive evidence the government was involved in a system of organized rape.
For the current Syrian victims, there is often no recourse for their suffering. Women who are raped may no longer be accepted for marriage, and in some rural Syrian communities, possible rape victims have been divorced by their husbands for engaging in sex outside of marriage. Families are therefore often silent about incidents of sexual violence, fearing a cultural backlash and stains on the family’s reputation. In extreme cases, male relatives may commit an “honor killing” of the victim to eliminate the “shame” the woman brought upon the family. The lack of sympathy from relatives has led psychologist Siham Sergewa to describe the Libyan victims she treats as “twice hurt, one by her family and one by Gadhafi’s troop[s].” The social stigma of rape has caused many rape victims to flee their home country and seek asylum in a neighboring nation — but as they reside there illegally, they cannot report the rapes to the authorities, and continue to suffer in silence.
However, governmental institutions have begun to acknowledge the devastating consequences of rape on a country’s population and the morale of the women affected. In February, the Justice Ministry of the current Libyan government took the first steps in rectifying the damage caused by Gadhafi’s troops by announcing a decree to recognize raped women as war victims and entitle them to medical treatment, counseling and financial assistance. Justice Minister Salah al-Marghani has stated the law will give women many rights, including raising them to the level of wounded former rebel fighters requiring medical treatment. As one of the first laws to redress war rape, a still taboo subject in Libya, it is unclear how many women will claim the compensation. Of the 300 to 500 reported rapes in Libya, experts agree there may be thousands more unknown to authorities.
Initiatives like the Women Under Siege Project of the Women’s Media Center (WMC) have begun to address the problem of estimating accurate numbers by crowdmapping and publicizing stories of sexual violence in Syria. Through 226 separate pieces of data, unverified as of yet, WMC has already documented the forms of sexual violence, the perpetrators of rape, and the locations where the rapes have occurred. Its efforts will allow future analysis of rape as a weapon and will build the support and trust needed for victims to share their traumatic stories. Additionally, the adoption in 2008 of UN Security Resolution 1820 recognizes rape as a “prosecutable act of war.” The UN resolution recognizes that women and girls are particularly affected by sexual violence during armed conflict and re-affirms past commitments to protect them during times of war. Through its adoption, there is no longer any ambiguity about the criminality of sexual violence.
Despite the stigma surrounding the issue, progress by the UN and the Libyan government has established a framework to support the victims and acknowledge that sexual violence is a crime, and not just a byproduct of war. However, the rape of women in Syria continues, and the formation of a policy in Syria to prevent sexual violence is necessary — as are the efforts of private organizations like WMC to analyze the incidences and effects of rape during conflict. While the UN has declared that “rape is a weapon of war,” it and other Western entities have failed to intervene and aid the victims. Necessary first steps should include providing women’s health assistance to victims, funding the creation of clinics for counseling and medical treatment, and reaching out to refugees who lack legal resources. The international community must also state it will not allow further sexual violence to occur. President Barack Obama has set a “red line” on the use of chemical weapons, but rape should be considered another weapon of mass destruction that cannot be contemplated as part of nation’s arsenal of weapons.
Laura Zhang, a senior at Bellaire High School, worked as a spring semester research intern for the Women and Human Rights in the Middle East Program at the Baker Institute. She will double major in economics and international relations at Stanford University this fall.