Syrian women have suffered greatly from systematic societal persecution, entrenched by patriarchal norms, which marginalize women in many areas of life, especially in the economic and political fields. This matter was exacerbated by the absence of legislation and laws obligating the state to remove the obstacles that prevent women from exercising their roles and limit their right to equal citizenship.
The ongoing Syrian conflict has increased the suffering of women; now they face great difficulty in accessing educational and medical facilities, obtaining employment, protection mechanisms, and physical and psychological care, in addition to their vulnerability to arrest, kidnapping, and sexual violence because of the absence of laws and legislation that protect and preserve the political, civil and economic rights of women.
Despite all these securities, societal and political challenges, and the consequent wide spread of gender-based violence, Syrian women have been able to create new spaces within the civil, service, and living space. They have been able to establish women’s organizations and local initiatives led by women, working in areas of humanitarian, relief, and service support, and the documentation of human rights violations and peacebuilding.
In an attempt to monitor the current reality of Syrian women, The Day After published a report entitled “Perceptions of Syrian Men and Women On the Situation of Women in Syria“, with the aim of understanding the difficulties and challenges faced by Syrian women, and extracting some suggestions and recommendations that may contribute to overcoming these difficulties and improving the reality of Syrian women in the future.
The 80-page report is based on a closed quantitative questionnaire for a sample of 2,681 Syrians (52.7% women and 47.3% men), from different geographic regions, inside and outside Syria, from various national and religious affiliations and educational and living standards.
The report mainly analyzes the statistical results of the attitudes and perceptions of the surveyed sample, on a set of topics, which are, in order, the different work environments in the Syrian context, the reality of women within the educational sector, civil rights for women, and political rights (the right to run for political office).
Notable Statistical Results of the Report:
1- The most significant barriers to gender equality in employment opportunities are customs and traditions, and inappropriate working conditions, such as travel, commuting, and long working hours. Employment policies.
2- Almost half of the sample (48.8%) believed that women in Syria do not have equal opportunities to access the education sector the same as men.
3- 52% of the respondents expressed their agreement with amending the Personal Status Law to ensure equality between men and women in inheritance quotas, regardless of religious and
sectarian reference.
4- The rate of those who agreed on amendment of the Syrian Personal Status Law to a form in
which polygamy is prohibited was 52.8% of the entire sample, compared to 42.4% of those
who refused.
5- 10.7% believe that Syrian law allows Syrian women to pass their nationality to their children, while 26.7% do not know anything about this issue.
6- Women were more opposed to women’s candidacy for the presidency, as the rate of women who reject it was 24%, while the percentage of women who strongly reject it was 17.6%.
