Rape and other forms of sexual violence have been used as a weapon of war for a long time to destroy not only individuals but entire human communities and what is happening in Syria is no exception, according to CNN.
Attempts of documenting and reporting of cases may serve as evidence in future war crimes trials, but the evidence is lost every day. Over 20% of women are killed immediately after the rape or shortly after the offense was committed, writes CNN.
The most relevant cause of this phenomenon is the tragic Syrian Islamic culture that cherishes “honor” more than anything else. The concept of “purity” makes the phenomenon worse.
International Rescue Committee reported many such cases where shame motivates people to forced marriages or divorces. In the most serious cases, where raped girls are killed by parents or commit suicide because in their culture they are considered “dishonored for life”. One of these cases is that of a teenage girl in Latakia who jumped from the balcony after being raped.
Although sexual violence is committed by both sides, it is found at a much higher incidence on the government army soldiers side.
The international community hopes that these violence reports in Syria will influence Russia’s decision to join the UN Security Council’s referral to the International Criminal Court of the criminal acts by Assad’s government.
The international community can provide humanitarian assistance and psycho-social care to survivors and could give support to non-governmental organizations working in the midst of civil war. Syrian women’s rights organizations are already conducting activities to help children of survivors or victims of sexual violence.
Violence in Syria have killed over 42,000 people, mostly civilians, since the beginning of unrest against Bashar Al-Assad regime in March 2011, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDO).
At least 29,455 civilians have died in the last 20 years, OSDO states, which considers members of armed opposition groups as civilians. The number of soldiers killed is 10,551, while the number of deserters killed in battles is 1,426. “There are 652 other people whose identity could not be established,” said OSDO President, Rami Abdel Rahman.
Thus, the total number of people killed, which can not be verified from other sources, is 42,084, after over 20 months of armed clashes and revolt violently repressed.
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