July 01, 2013

Loss of Innocence for Syria’s Female Refugees

July 01, 2013/ Ayanna Nahmias

Jessica Tanner, Staff WriterLast Modified: 15:44 p.m. DST, 1 July 2013

The Syrian women describe how even going to the bathroom in the Zaatari camps can be a threat. “There is no light, if we come in here there could be a guy hiding or something,” one of them says. None of the female refugees want to be identified. Their fear follows them, even as they seek refuge across the border in Jordan.

Zaatari is a refugee camp in Jordan, located 10 km east of Mafraq. It was first opened on July 28, 2012 to host Syrians fleeing the violence in the ongoing Syrian civil war that erupted in 2011.

According to Wikipedia, the camp population amounts to 19000-38000 refugees.

Even with the promise of “safety” for the female refugees, there is still another catch. Many of Syria’s female population have had to trade fear of death in their homeland for fear of something much worse: rape.

There have been various threats of sexual harassment and rape in the Zaatari camp – teeming with masses that continue to stream across the border. This crisis has resulted in a disturbing growing phenomenon: “sutra” marriages, or marriages for protection.

Many families who feel like they are unable to protect their female family members are marrying them off for their own safety. The majority of families are saying that they had no other alternatives.

According to one Syrian mother, “I swear I wasn’t able to sleep, I was afraid for the girls. I swear to God, I would not have let her get married this young if we were in Syria.”

Although the international community refuses to end the conflict in Syria, there is a solution to preventing the exploitation of the Syrian female population: more aid.

According to another Syrian mother, “We left Syria to escape death and we found something worse than death. If we had stayed in Syria to die it would have been more honorable. There death is fast, here it is slow.

Follow Jessica Tanner on Twitter Twitter: @nahmias_report Staff Writer: @JessTanner1991

Syria neighbours block thousands from fleeing: rights group (dailystar.com.lb)
No sanctuary for Syria's female refugees - CNN International (edition.cnn.com)
See the Heartbreaking Pictures TheBlaze's Buck Sexton Took from Inside a Syrian Refugee Camp (theblaze.com)
Syrian Expatriates Organization (SEO) Launches Media Campaign "Freedom... (prweb.com)

February 19, 2012

Queen’s Pawn

February 19, 2012/ Ayanna Nahmias

"Once the game is over, the King and the pawn go back in the same box." ~ Italian Proverb Obvious ways breed obvious opposition. Noisy preparation is the armament of the hubristic man. To defeat an opponent thus self-inflated, a wise combatant, sublimates all hint of power beneath the veneer of the demeaned.

May 03, 2011

State of the World's Mothers | The Mother Index

May 03, 2011/ Ayanna Nahmias

Today, 03 May 2011, the organization Save the Children released its annual report 'State of the World's Mothers,' also referred to as the Mother's Index, it ranks countries by the care each country provides for its most precious resources - mothers and children. I was sad to learn that America continues to decline in ranking as it embraces corporatism at the sacrifice of family. Many mothers, including myself, often find ourselves on the loosing side of the battle to balance work and motherhood. A battle in which we are required on a daily basis to choose work over our welfare or that of our children. It is true that many in the world could accuse us of being soft and spoiled and I would have to agree on whole because the quality of life in America far out strips that of most mothers and children in many other countries. However, this fact does not diminish the struggles that American mothers are increasingly facing, and which is evidenced by America's decreased standing among developed nations.