ANHA

As International Women's Day approaches, which falls on March 8 of each year, Syrian women are still facing many difficulties as the Syrian crisis that broke out on March 15, 2011 continues, and is approaching its 14th year without any solutions on the horizon.

At the same time, this crisis was a starting point for breaking the restrictions imposed on Syrian women, who sought in various ways to erase their identity and culture and prevent them in every way from performing their natural role in society.

Civil activist and media personality from Suwayda, Suhail Assaf, spoke to ANHA's agency about the reality of women who have been struggling for 13 years to reach safety in Syria, and the woman who became the first victim of the ongoing war in the country.

On the occasion of March 8, Suhail Assaf said, “Women in public places will welcome March 8 with more pride in their achievements,” adding: “I believe that the women who will celebrate their day collectively have achieved human rights gains for all, so freedoms and human rights gains cannot be divided, and when only to that extent can the aggrieved party claim what it loses.”

The civil activist pointed out: “In our country, society as a whole lacks many of its rights, and women must be fighters on multiple fronts, and their mission is complex, and a society that does not have a productive knowledge core is unable to develop, because it is not yet aware of all the problems, concepts, and terminology related to the problem or issue to be changed or developed.

She continued, explaining: “In the end, the matter appears to be a complex process that requires both intellectual and realistic work. Every part that suffers injustice inevitably lives entirely in it. The defect lies in our society, which is historically in crisis and is in crisis above all with the policies of the military and totalitarian parties, where our (women’s) struggle appears, which is proceeding at a slow pace.” “Since the entire society needs to reproduce a comprehensive thought process, a society that does not believe in diversity, difference and pluralism cannot accept an independent status for women.”

 “Beliefs and thinking patterns change out of necessity.”

Suhail Assaf pointed out, “With the accumulation of ignorance and the ignorance of rulers and jurists, the will to act seems mighty, and every step, even if it is the effect of a butterfly, as they say, is a victory.”

She saw that women were going out to work in large numbers. Even if it is under the pressure of coercive variables, “it is an advanced step, and its presence in the arenas of the movement is a double step with every different feeling that accompanies the experience.”

She emphasized by saying: “We have confidence that beliefs and patterns of thinking change with the age of necessity, and I would add that every proposal that was in favor of women’s freedom years ago was met with rejection from women before men, considering the customs, traditions, and heritage with all its contents, but all that is happening in reality are losses and civilized lapses, it began to show that these absolute generalities are nothing but blind and that the part belongs to the whole

The Syrian event confronted us without any intellectual ammunition

Civil activist Suhail Assaf said: “I believe that every detail in which women make a difference is confirmation that things will move towards a new awareness. In the south, where I live, the efforts being made are weak because they are entrusted to civil initiatives and the conflict is intense with stifling crises in the capabilities and foundations of simple life. Where women find themselves pushed into the labor market under coercive conditions, both financially and socially, which inspires them with a false awareness that freedoms mean new oppression, and this is due to the fact that the harshest Syrian event we faced without any repertoire of intellectual preparation.”

Regarding women’s activism in the midst of these political and mental changes, activist Suhail explained: “It seems that women’s activism takes place in traditional patterns, as if through it women are seeking to convince society that their work is justified based on tradition, custom, and religion, and working alone does not create what is called pressure or power.” A lobby that influences and changes, and the differences in gains are due to the nature of the incubating environment related to the overall culture and to the ability of one society to produce organized and systematic work, and another that does not even have a way to overcome the plight of high prices to gather and raise their issues.”

At the conclusion of her speech, the civil and media activist from Suwayda, Suhail Assaf, addressed her message on the occasion of International Women’s Day to the free and civilized world, saying: “There is a world in which women are drowning in the mire of authoritarian, ideological, and sectarian tendencies, and extending a helping hand to liberate women is liberating our society from oppressive entities, starting with from totalitarian parties to any deviant thought towards women.”

 “What we need is to eliminate the backward mentality.”

For her part, the feminist activist from Aleppo, Maha Al-Ahmad, confirmed during her meeting with ANHA's agency that what the Syrian woman needs most to rid herself and the society for which she is considered responsible throughout the geography is the exclusion of backward mentalities that are considered the inheritance of the pre-Islamic era, and which begin by confining women to the home, stripping of rights and equality.

She pointed out that the atmosphere of the family in which she grew up indicates the harmony of components, as her father is Kurdish and her mother is Arab of the Christian religion, which made her accept all components from a young age and not be affected by the environment that calls for fragmentation.

In the same regard, the civil activist believed that work must be done to instill a culture in which men are a support for women, to change the reality of Syrian women, to reach urbanization and thus develop society, stressing that when women enjoy their freedom, they will be able to work to produce a conscious generation that works on productivity.

"Replicating the experience of women in North and East Syria"

Maha drew to the experience of women in North and East Syria, and said: “In general, the societies that represent the Kurdish people have preserved women’s privacy and given them a wide scope to prove themselves, unlike other regions of the interior where women need great support to change their reality, by granting safety and removing all forms of oppression and terrorism.”

Maha believed that the occupations that the Syrian geography has been subjected to impede the liberation of men and women in general in the areas inside Syria, and therefore the first step begins with ending the occupations.

At the end of her speech, feminist activist Maha Al-Ahmad sent a message to Syrian women on the occasion of the approaching day of March 8, in which she said, “Liberate yourselves from within, create new generations without fanaticism, and reinforce in their hearts love of the homeland and the land, so that they will be effective generations that think about values, and creates an experience similar to the experience of women in North and East Syria.”

T/ Satt.

ANHA