Ref: Untuk melihat video footage, click situs :
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidesyria/2013/02/201322485732560170.html
The female factor
Syrian women are increasingly becoming weapons of war in the battle
between government forces and the opposition.
Inside Syria Last Modified: 24 Feb 2013 13:11
Women make up half of Syria's population, yet they are often invisible in
the political and media discussions taking place since the conflict began two
years ago.
Now, mothers, wives and daughters are increasingly becoming weapons of
war on the frontline of the battle between government forces and the
opposition.
Although Syrian women have always been able to join the armed forces,
recently there has been an influx of women joining the National Defence Force,
which is similar to a reserve army.
"There is a lot going on. There is systematic rape, and if you
survive that then you get shot. And if you survive that then you lose a limb.
It's a traumatic evolvement of events and I don't understand what's going on.
What's going on with women all across the world ... This is not acceptable;
this is rape on the way to genocide."
- Aida Dalati, activist and author
Several reports say President Bashar al-Assad has recruited more women to
guard checkpoints in an attempt to make up for defections and casualties in his
declining army. The reports say up to 500 women have been drafted into the new
paramilitary force known as the 'Lionesses for National Defence'.
They form part of the recently formed 10,000 strong National Defence
Force - an important part of al-Assad's counter-insurgency strategy, as the
president desperately tries to regain control of the country's towns and
cities. Part of their role is to carry out security checks of veiled women.
Women have played a marginal role in Syria’s opposition groups, and a
number of them have been active in the 23-month-old uprising.
As with previous wars, the weapon of sexual violence has also been
prevalent in Syria. A report by the International Rescue Committee at the start
of the year said rape is a "significant and disturbing" feature of this war.
The agency said women and girls cited sexual violence as their main
reason for fleeing from Syria. The report also documented women and girls being
attacked in public and in their homes, primarily by armed men.
So, what is the role of women in the Syrian conflict?
To discuss this, Inside Syria with presenter Hazem Sika, is joined by
guests: Afra Jalabi, a member of the Syrian National Coalition; Aida Dalati, a
Syrian-American activist and author; and Hanadi Assoud, a member of Hands Off
Syria, a group of Syrians who support the government and defy any foreign
intervention in the country.
'Terrorising' civilians
Also on the show this week, Syria's opposition coalition said it is
making a stand against what it called the international silence over continuing
atrocities; it has turned down invitations from Russia and the US to discuss
the conflict.
"Syria has got a very great history, it has always been known as a
culture that is open-minded to women. We have almost equal rights there. If you
want to know about the concerns of women in Syria, they are very worried about
all the minorities, about these fundamentalists taking over, and worried about
the damage they could do to the status of women."
- Hanadi Assoud, member of Hands Off Syria
Last Sunday, Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nations and Arab league envoy to
Syria, called for talks between the Syrian government and the opposition.
Brahimi welcomed Syrian opposition leader Moaz al-Khatib's offer to meet
senior members of the government not involved in the violence, saying the talks
could open the door to a peaceful solution.
On Wednesday, in the first direct talks on Syria between Russia and the
Arab League, the two agreed to work together to try to bring Syria’s government
and the opposition to the negotiating table.
But the violence on the ground has continued unabated, with multiple
explosions rocking Damascus on Thursday and Friday.
The UN has said that the behaviour of the Syrian government and
opposition fighters is becoming more radical.
A report compiled by an independent team for the UN says Syrian
government forces have committed rape, torture and enforced disappearances.
It says the military, as well as pro-government militia, are employing a
strategy of "terrorising" civilian populations.
And it alleges anti-government fighters have committed similar
atrocities, though not on the same scale.
"If there are terrorists, it is this regime that has been bent on
killing and terrorising its population. And I'm sorry, women have not been
doing well. The Syrian regime has allowed honour killings and sometimes even
rewarded men who have been marginalising women over the last 40 years. A macho
state - a state that is run by security and the military - is no feminist
state, is not an egalitarian state."
Afra Jalabi, Syrian National Coalition
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