Really Lost !!!! Lost in a country that claims to be living in the twenty first century, while still keeping an article in its law unchanged which is bloodcurdling if best described. Even a person coming out from the Barbaric Ages would be ashamed to live by its bloody shadow.
They are lost when the Messrs, (who could be either males or females) celebrating a toast of hypocrisy in international forums that Syria’s achievements in regard to women’s rights have gone far enough, citing examples of women’s quota in the Syrian parliament and the number of women in governmental posts, and female deputies and advisors to the President, while the blood of the female victims of the article 548 and (192) has not dried yet. 200 women are being murdered every year. (while the government itself acknowledged the statistics of about 40-50 honor crimes last year! That means 40-50 cases, in which murderers benefited from legal protection! Many many other murderers, however, are looking forward for this legal protection to benefit from).
The husband of any female minister, MP or senior advisor can simply divorce her arbitrarily without any legal questioning! She would go out of the house only with the clothes she is wearing! Non of those female ministers, MPs or senior advisors can be in charge of their children’s money upon divorce, neither can they be responsible for their children, unless there are no males among the fathers’ family members!!!!!
They are lost … as the advocates of the barbaric violence against women making their religious establishments as platforms for their cases, using cassettes and CD ROMs, booklets and pamphlets delivered in streets and bus stations to campaign for their sinister causes! Turning their religions (Semitic in its original form) into agitated males whose concern lies only on the heel height or the licentiousness of her fragrance! At the same time, no organization can hold a public meeting or publish a book discussing violence against women. Meanwhile, the license for the organizations working in this field can be easily cancelled.
They are lost … when foundling, whose father is not known, could be granted Syrian citizenship, while the children of Syrian woman whose chose not to marry a man from “tribe” could not get that natural right (saying “tribe” because the current Nationality Law takes us back to the concept of tribes based on patriarchal parentage).
They are lost … when women are been cursed and sworn at every single day by the males of the family, denied the freedom to do what they like, denied inheritance in the overwhelming cases, marginalized through pushing them “under coercion” towards specific domains (nursing, education, secretaryship, desk jobs).
They are lost … when there is a ministry boasting that it has granted licenses to about 2000 society or association during 40 years (less than the actual number of organization in one region in a developed country). Non of those licensed organizations declares in its programme that it aims at resisting violence against woman, or the legal, institutional and societal discrimination, or ensuring equality in both rights and duties with man (even the only licensed organization “Association for Women’s Role Development AWRD” that has in its name the word “woman”, its bylaw and stated aims doesn’t include any word about resisting violence against woman or achieving equality, otherwise it would not have been granted license)
Rights of married women are lost when the government excels all “U-turns” except the turn towards acknowledging Syrian woman as a citizen and a human! The government is mistaken thinking the current violation of woman’s rights, of half of the society citizens, can stay for long!
The government is mistaken thinking that few sentences and statements here and there may conceal the fact that hundreds of thousands of Syrian women work unpaid in agricultural investments, facing by that more domestic violence, well as economic governmental violence. The government thinks mistakenly that marginalizing women through some fake and inactive “posts” may brighten its brand! It mistakenly thinks that the notorious “Organizations/Societies Law” could hinder the civil movement started years ago which will keep its momentum until achieving the aim of having man and woman as two equal citizens. We believe that citizenship means: equality in rights and duties; equality of being able to get all the services in the society; equal opportunities; equality in being able to make decisions, and the most important equality of being able to live the life he/she chooses.
For all of this, we would like to come with a rose in hand:
- To every single Syrian woman killed in a honor related crime! This disgraceful acts!
- To every woman struggling day and night for her children deprived of their homeland citizenship!
- To every Syrian woman struggling in her outdoor work having in return more violence, misery and discrimination!
- To every Syrian woman trying to bring the “Medieval Ages” we live in, to an end and trying to live in a society of freedom, of human values.
Those citizens are the actual jewelry of Syria. The Syrian past, present and future are embodied in those citizens. Along with the real men who thinks of no natural excellence, rejecting the jungle law and its advocates.
Not just Syrian Women Observatory team say that. This is said by:
- Every single man and woman working in silence and behind closed doors against all kinds of violence and discrimination against woman.
- Media figures in the state-run TV, FM radio stations, newspapers and magazines.
- All the members of organizations and institutions that may have or have not got license, who keep working unhindered looking for new approaches in tackling these issues.
- All men and women working in some “governmental” posts trying to make a difference in such a hash environment.
- All men and women conducting equality culture in their daily lives everywhere.
For all those countless persons, we would like to say: The day when Syria would not discriminate against any of its citizens will come soon, then we will be proud to say, “We are citizens of the country of equality”.
By Bassam AlKadi , 22/3/2009, (Who shall visit the lost graveyards of the “honor victims” with a red rose in hand?
Translated by Basel Jbaily
source in Arabic..