A epidemic of digital violence against Syrian women and girls

Workshop on repairing the device in Geenin Idlib in 2024. years, the capital and empowerment and Imran Development Association.

Capital and empowerment

The photo looked enough harmless: she showed a doctor in northwestern Syria. But what was especially important for some viewers was what the photo did not include: the hijab that covers a female head. The photo has published an online user who works a fake account. The next day, in the so-called “murder in honor,” The doctor killed in public.

This woman was a victim of gender-based on technology (TFGBV). This most bright term cannot be used widely. But Most women They experienced him, even if they were not framed as violence. Most didn’t report it too. It is so permeation and discharged and usually less dramatic from the case of Syrian doctor, that it can feel in vain to bother the mention.

A Recent report Three organizations – Humanitarian research organization Acaps, Sexual and Reproductive Health Agency UNFPA and global protection of humanitarian organizations – shows how frequent and damaged this digital violence in northwestern Syria. It is mainly motivated by “financial and sexual exploitation, revenge, coercion, defamation or damage, or simply threatens, harm or disturb the target individual”, in accordance with the report. “It shows that TFGBV is almost always intended to cause severe effects in real life and should not be underestimated as purely online.”

Although this last report focuses on Northwest Syria, the problem is Is not limited to one regionOr even to one country, Diana Garde, who led the regional office center of the Arab state to respond to UNFPA Siria before moving to focus on Sudan. TFGBV probably exists anywhere in the world, especially where the vulnerability of hunger, conflict or poverty, combined with the limitation of Manmadea to the Women’s Agency.

Indeed, intimate image abuse and sector are too common. For example, men threaten to exhibit private photos if women do not pay them with money, more photos or sex. But there are factors that reinforce the consequences in some parts of Syria, where the threshold for damage is reputed to photos maybe very low. Even a picture of a woman sitting without the main covering at home could, without context, use to manipulate and harass it online.

In one caseA man in northwestern Syria was blackmailed for a girl because of private photos sent during their relationship. It is not possible to collect enough money, a drug trade began, which led to her prison sentence.

This can be an opportunistic violation. Phones could hack or fall out after the crisis, like an earthquake in 2023. years who ravaged parts of Syria and Turkey, they took over 50,000 lives. The displit also created technological vulnerability, the Guard explains. With people forced to leave their homes in the midst of the year of violence, education was interrupted, including technological literacy. And women living in isolated refugee limited money can have older versions of phones that are often needed repairs, exposing them to repair technicians who sometimes hack in customers.

The perpetrators can be almost about anyone: phone repairs, friends, family members, other women, members of politically motivated networks and humanitarian and medical staff. Organizations have processes to try to influence sexual exploitation and abuse by people they should help. However, “It is extremely insufficiently reported, but we always assume that this happens” Guards admits. “This affects the credibility of humanitarian agencies and workers.”

There are also targeted attacks on journalists, activists and humanitarian workers, as well as women who are generally burdened on online policy. Hiba Ezzideen, IDLib activist in Northwest Syria, is an offense and threats online. Anxietees include other women – which Ezideen understands. Without external protection, women can be converted to “negative mechanisms for self-protection” like calling other women in hopes not to be attacked. However, all this harassment limits women’s opportunities as a whole. For example, because they are aiming to aim, many women do not enter politics, says Ezzideen.

Ezdeen runs the organization of Syrian women’s law, Fairness and empowermentwho treats TFGBW as a significant question that affects women and girls. She and colleagues found that most family violence were aware of their online. For example, an online post about a married woman can follow him her husband who beat her. Capital and empowerment trained cases managers, working for national or international protection organizations, to better understand the links between network and offline violence.

It may seem to be a surprising place to work on gender-based on technology, given the other issues that is selected. “It’s a single crisis after another after another one; they don’t catch,” Guards are reflected. This year’s crises were expanded from wild disorders to sectarian violence and Israeli stroke. “And so when you just jumped from an urgent in the next,” including a new government in a country that is a transition, unfortunately, digital violence against women “usually comes, unfortunately, last in areas of priority.”

But UNFPA heard from Syrian women’s organizations like capital and empowerment that TFGBV was deeply worried about and that he was personally connected to violence. This insistence was encouraged by UNFPA to explore the problem. Many people, even those involved in human rights and humanitarian work, did not draw a connection between physical violence and mistreating online. “This topic is not discussed enough,” Guard Comments.

One finding of the research was that digital violence in northwestern Syria mainly occurs on metallic platforms, mainly on Facebook. Many women and girls also rely on Whatsapp Gold, an unauthorized and less sure version of whatsapp, which was used for fraud. Ezzideen explains that one advantage of Whatsapp Gold allows people to use multiple phone numbers. And sometimes the perpetrators of the groom target in use of these fewer secure applications. People who use cheap or used phones, with less safety risk awareness, are especially exposed.

However, the target was also responsible for the problem of some other technological companies, according to Ezzideo. She is part of the meta A reliable partner The program, which pays special attention to the flags set by researchers, NGO workers and activists. Most of the content registered within this volunteer language program comes in in the Asia regionwhich includes the Middle East.

Ezzideen says he spends two or three hours a day checking social media for posts that could be associated with gender-based violence. Not paid for this challenging work. Three years ago, she started seeing a psychiatrist, feeling that too absorbed hate speech and encouraging violence seen online. While it is glad that there is a reliable partnership program, it claims the target must cross dangerous functions before. “The weather really important because the lady lost life if the post communicated and shared too,” Ezzideen warns.

The target said cases are faster, even how the number of reports grows massively. In the second quarter of 2024. years, 81% of cases were solved within five days of escalation. (The target did not answer the comment request.)

AI was a double sword. Ezdeen often uses AI in their work, for example to analyze the photos. Photos can easily be doctors, including the use of AI, in blackmail and exploitation of girls and women. But “AI cannot contact all the daily dynamics of” internet interaction or extremely shades that exist in different parts of Syria, Ezzideen emphasizes.

UNFPA organizes secure spaces where women and girls, including those who have experienced violence encouraged social media, can obtain support without identification or stigmatized. This may include management of cases, psychosocial care, and sometimes cash and vouchers for people who need to find housing urgently.

However, the Agency had to close some of these spaces, reduced the number of information sessions and reduced its work with local organizations due to dramatic reductions of international development and humanitarian financing, because Trump administration returned to power. This American support cannot completely replace any other financiers. It is a torture that must decide which services keep. “As if you choose your favorite child,” Garde says. Ezdeen reports that there was already fewer financing of Syrian women’s organizations than the fall of Assad Government in December 2024. years. Years. Years.

Government brittle in Syria stretches on “very small access to legal places. And the judicial system has been reworked,” says Garde. Even in rare cases where a woman will report a violation of a lawyer or a police officer, nothing happens or blame or blamed or blamed or blamed or defendant. “There is a lot of obstacle to women and girls looking for any right.”

Maybe they will have to go to extreme length to stop violence. In the northwestern Syria, The phone of one woman is hacked While playing an online shooter’s online game. The hacker threatened to publish his private photographs if she didn’t send him more. Her family had to fake her death, through the announcement of death and executed burial, to end the blackmail.

Some organizations that help women go into less extreme length. In 2020. year, capital and empowerment began training women in Idlib Fix your devices yourself. This filled the gap, because professional training is generally for men and boys, and schools were lacking education related to technology. For example, it says Ezzideen, women would send their personal information to create social media accounts for them, making them vulnerable to violation of privacy.

The Women’s Training Program attracted huge backlash in the community, Ezdeen remembers. Common criticism was that her organization learn women to be men. Capital and empowerment have taken a pragmatic response to controversy. They gave grants to women to open trade within their houses, serve only women’s customers, which would be less threatening to community men. “Then the background tool was less,” ezzideen reports.

This work of the snowball. They trained coaches who spread information to others. Women began seeing the benefits of this way to earn income. Trainings helped to change stereotypes about an acceptable career for women, according to Ezzideen. There are many such companies now.

While gains in women’s entrepreneurship and digital literacy have inspired, it is necessary to do much more to combat waste of violence against women online. “This is a structural question,” Ezzideen emphasizes.