Written by: Rana Abduel Fattah

What causes a woman in Syria to be silent about a bruise, a broken rib, a psychological scar, and to be silent about her basic rights as a human being?

In Syria from birth, women are treated unequally by their parents. Male family members are raised to believe they are in charge of female affairs.

This socially constructed assumption varies on different levels depending on how ‘traditional’, ‘religious’, and ‘educated’ the culture of the family is.

In a typical traditional family, dividing and fixing the female and the male roles within the family creates a less cooperative family and escalates the imbalance of the family to a critical stage when the subjugated family bond turns into verbal, psychological, and physical violence practiced mostly by the male.

A study on violence against women was undertaken by the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs, the General Women's Federation and the Central Bureau of Statistics, with support from the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), in 2005 entitled "Violence against women in Syria", the study comprised a random sample of 1,891 families in the rural and urban areas of Syria's governorates.

It found that 19.7 per cent of the individuals in the sample had already been subjected to some form of violence, with a higher percentage among rural females, and made important practical recommendations.

The study helped to shed light on the forms of domestic violence against women and on the size, causes and motives of the problem, the aim being to identify a systematic view of how it can be fought.

A woman did not want to use her real name, said,” I am a victim of a verbal and physical abuse by my father and my brother. Last time, I was beaten by the two of them just because I came home late.

“Outside the home, I am supposed to be a well-established woman with a prestigious job but regardless of being 26 years old I have to listen and abide by the male voice in the family. Sometimes I don’t and so I get beaten by them just because they physically can!”

In stringently religious families, religion can be interpreted as an excuse to enforce the traditional male/female roles, and to do so with violence.

Certain religious interpretations are used to make women feel guilty and to keep silent.

A recent story by Althwara newspaper, Syrian paper, broke the news in Lattakia.

Father, aided by his two sons, tied his daughter’s hands to an electric wire, shocking her with electricity and eventually killing her.

The father justified that act by claiming he did it to protect the family reputation.

Her brothers told the court “She insisted to go out of the house regardless of her father’s wish!” – An act deemed as immoral and harmful to the family.

The two sons were sentenced of 15 years hard labor in Lattakia.

Interpretation of the religious texts by some extremists leads to women being regarded as almost sub human.

The prevalence of this view is shown by a disturbing 2006 study, conducted by state-run Syrian General Union of Women, which found that in 2006, one in four married women were victims of domestic violence.

Most of the 1,900 women surveyed in the study, said they were beaten for reasons as small as neglecting their duties or asking their husbands too many questions.

‘The husband because of his interpretation of religion has the right to beat his wife if she neglected her housework or if she argued with him about family affairs.’

Some religious speeches make men believe it is their right, even duty, by God to punish their wives if they fall short of their duties as women.

Syrian Women Observatory, an independent Syrian forum dedicated to defending human rights, published that a woman of 32, housewife, underwent a severe beaten from her husband, 42, because she argued with him.

He, on the other hand, couldn’t bear his wife to argue back and took off his leather belt and was about to kill her when she ran out to a police station and filed an official complaint.

He was detained for one day, and when he was released he filed a divorce because his wife is ‘Nashiz’, ‘a religious term used for a woman who doesn’t obey her husband’, since she officially complained about his assault.

Educated families don’t necessarily escape violence. The school curriculum itself mirrors the prevailed culture of the male/female role division. In the reading books in primary school, it is very common to find a family photo where you see female roles as doing the dishes or the laundry where as the males are sitting in the living room waiting the females to finish the cooking or the housework.

However, the present condition is improving, far better than the past since women now outnumber men in some universities and greater female education is having an impact. Still, the paradox remains that is in spite of women‘s economic independence and education level, they still have to abide by the male authority in the house.

Nimat, a university Instructor with a master degree said, “I don’t have enough strength to fight back, and be able to exert my rights as a human being, me and other women relatives women suffer from verbal and physical violence by men in the family and outside the family unit. We are raised to believe if we defended our rights, we will suffer the consequences later on."

"We have a culture of silence, women who get beaten or harassed often remain silent to keep their "male counterparts' honor"." I am not optimistic this is going to change any time soon. The programs and organizations that have been working in Syria to empower women simply lack an audience or if they attract one, it is usually female. Women alone do not have to power to change this; we need to educate men, too."

"I think that the media could have a vital role to play here Syrian television has very the few programs on this issue and fails to address the problem.”Nimat said.

"Another important player here is increasing awareness towards legal issues concerning domestic abuse. I think the law should be amended and the abuser should get a tougher sentence. The next two points do not link. Things will not change any time soon because getting women to speak up will be hard. This is why I think it's not going to be any time soon!" Nimat cried out.