In Afrin there are women who have not left the house for years. Since the occupation carried out by Turkey in March 2018, integral veil has been made compulsory for women. Women are not safe in their own homes either.
For a long time, Afrin was considered the most peaceful region in Syria. The Turkish army, together with Islamist militias, launched an invasion on 20 January 2018, which led to the occupation of the entire canton on 18 March. Consequently, hundreds of thousands of people were forced to flee.
The remaining population, and women in particular, have since been exposed to ISIS-style brutality. Women have to wear a veil, they are being kidnapped, raped and tortured. These crimes were last confirmed in a UN report. However, there is no real step taken by the international opinion and sanctions against Turkey are missing.
Journalist Sozda Oremar works in the region. She spoke to MA about the situation in Afrin. Women have been pushed back into the home environment since the city was taken, Oremar said. In public space they are considered haram (impure). Signs have been put up on the streets obliging women to cover themselves with the veil. “Women are locked in the house. Young women in particular are afraid of leaving the house. There are women who haven't been out for years. They face harassment and rape by jihadists on the street. However, they are not safe in the home either. If the jihadists learn that a young woman is in a house, she will be attacked and kidnapped."
The journalist's statements are confirmed by the human rights organization Afrin, the Documentation Center for Rights Violations in Northern Syria, the Research and Statistics Committee of the Kongreya Star women's association in Qamishlo and the "Missing Afrin Women" project.
A thousand women abducted
According to the human rights organization Afrin, a thousand women were abducted between 20 January 2018 and September 2020. The fate of 400 of the kidnapping victims is unclear. 76 women were murdered and another 76 women were raped. Child marriage has increased from ten percent to forty percent. In the first eleven months of 2020 alone, 805 women were abducted, 54 of whom were murdered.
The committee for research and statistics of the women's association Kongra Star in Qamishlo has prepared a three-year report on the situation of women in Afrin. The report documents rape and murder cases with precise details of the identity of the women concerned. In 2020, 30 kidnappings and five murders of women have been investigated, 13 women were released for ransom.
"Missing Afrin Women" reports on eleven women abducted in November. One of the abducted has been released, the fate of the other ten is unknown.
