Women's eNews (https://womensenews.org/series/collateral-damage-syria-women-and-girls-fleeing-violence/)
This special series highlights the unique risks Syrian women face living as refugees, as well as the survival strategies they develop for themselves and their families.
In September 2013, Women’s eNews sent a three-person multi-media team to Jordan to cover and share the stories of Syrian female refugees living in that country. Some have said this century is the century of the refugee and, if so, these pieces may be emblematic of the experiences of all women fleeing armed conflicts.
Women’s eNews Arabic site editor Dominique Soguel, staff reporter Hajer Naili and development associate Touline Habake spent a month reporting from refugee camps, including Jordan’s largest camp Za’atari, and surrounding suburban neighborhoods serving displaced Syrian families. On the ground in Jordan, Women’s eNews also found extraordinary talent who helped the team throughout their stay. These fixers, who provided everything from sources to translation and transportation to cultural background, included Maher Abdallatef, Radwan Abdellatef, Shafika Mattar and Mayss al-Zoubi.
Women’s eNews’ reporters were the first to draw attention to the large numbers of refugees returning to Syria under the cover of night to look for a better life in their homeland and because they missed male family members. In addition, the series covers a wide range of issues from lost educational opportunities for Syrian girls to the difficult economic choices Syrian women have to make to support themselves and their families.
Alongside these stories are related videos and photo galleries, as well as an oral history project to preserve the stories of Syrian women living as refugees.
Religious court data show a growing share of Jordanian marriage licenses going to Syrian female minors in the past three years. But the debate in the international aid community is whether early marriage is worsening for Syrian refugee girls or just being exposed by the crisis.
In this video, a Syrian woman who fled war-torn Homs describes her work washing the corpses of women. Negotiators in Geneva have just agreed to provide a relief corridor for women and children to leave districts that have been besieged since June 2012.
Next week the international community holds peace talks for Syria and women from that country are pressing for their voices to be heard. In this video from late last year, a Syrian woman living as a refugee in Jordan shares how she lost her husband and helped the Free Syrian Army.
Syrian refugee Hoda recalls helping an Alawite girl. Shurook, who didn’t want to appear on camera, also helped the opposition. The first of three videos featuring the stories of female refugees in the Free Syrian Army.
Prepared by their culture to stay home with the children, single female heads of household are ill-equipped for refugee life in the cities of Jordan. Survival sex, domestic violence and early marriage are all part of the coping effort.
In a group therapy session in Jordan, refugee women unload about the difficulties of caring for children afflicted by nightmares, aggressive outbursts and PTSD symptoms. “I have two boys, ages 3 and 5. They are scared of everything,” says one participant.
Every day dozens of Syrian female refugees living in Jordan sign up to return home. Some say they can’t make ends meet living abroad. Others want to find male relatives who didn’t make it through the border or were left behind.
Jordan’s schools are opening their doors to Syrian refugee children. Yet, thousands of girls stay home; costs of supplies are too high and parents are too wary of the risky, long walks to school. The first of a series on female Syrian refugees.
In September 2013, Women’s eNews sent a three-person multi-media team to Jordan to cover and share the stories of Syrian female refugees living in that country. Some have said this century is the century of the refugee and, if so, these pieces may be emblematic of the experiences of all women fleeing armed conflicts.