Activists from As-Suwayda call on women to unite their ranks and stand with them

As the protests in As-Suwayda continue for their fourth week, the people of the southern region are still renewing their demands for Assad to step down and for comprehensive political change in the country in accordance with International Resolution 2,254.

Women in As-Suwayda found an urgent need to occupy the front rows of these protests, and to demand their rights that were robbed and suppressed over the past decades, as their presence became self-evident in Al-Sir (Al-Karama) Square in the center of the city of Suwayda, raising banners expressing their demands for change in all areas of life and their support for women from Syrian regions.

Baraa Naeem, a civil political activist from the city of Suwayda, spoke to ANHA's agency about this widespread participation of women in the protests, and said: “The participation of women in this force has its reasons, as women are the first and last victims of this criminal war that the regime launched against the Syrian people.”

She continued in her speech by saying: “The woman lost her husband and became the breadwinner for her family. The woman lost her children in the war, through arrest, displacement, and death across the seas, and with all the evil and injustice that was brought upon her. The woman was exposed to various types of violence, torture, rape, and imprisonment, so she is here to say to the world, ‘We have been wronged, and you must be upon us.’” That you stand by us and recognize us as a Syrian voice present inside Syria. We, women, demand our rights and the rights of our children.”

Baraa pointed out that women need to unite their ranks in the face of the suppression of freedoms they are exposed to. “Women in As- Suwayda now - and Baraa’s words - are demanding freedom, justice, and the implementation of a political solution for all Syrians, not for the southern region or for As-Suwayda alone. We demand a comprehensive solution for all Syrians, especially for women.”

She noted that women in Syria "were subjected to all forms of torture, and made many sacrifices. Therefore, we need to unite our voice to be a stronger voice against the suppression of freedoms, through a comprehensive, unified Syrian law and constitution that fully recognizes women's rights and does not detract from them or their value."

Civil and political activist Baraa Naeem called on all Syrian women to stand with them and appear in the squares, and to call for their freedom and independence, and their right and the right of their children to live in dignity.

For her part, the civil and human rights activist from As-Suwayda, Iman Abu Assaf, attributed women’s participation in this force to the “accumulation of awareness” among Syrian women after many years of the crisis.

She explained in an interview with ANHA's agency, “The years of conflict played a fundamental role in expanding awareness among women in Syria, and women began to know well that society, the state, and identity are not equal except with the liberation of man of his gender. We should also not forget that global and technical conditions contributed to the growth of this awareness, in addition to the variables, global, regional and generalized culture around women's liberation.

Iman stressed that the conditions of war, which were accompanied by displacement, persecution, and senseless death, contributed greatly to breaking the stereotype of women and going out “forced or unwillingly” into the labor market, to practice traditional activities at first, and later move through civil activism to a more advanced stage. Which contributed to her going out into the arena as a protester, organizer, and theorist.

The civil and human rights activist, Iman Abu Assaf, found that all women must organize their political work and institutionalize their movement and effectiveness, and she considered it the appropriate moment in time for organized work with a theoretical vision that establishes a secular constitution that guarantees equality for all.

T/ Satt.

ANHA