7 - Weaponising Gender

Summary

This chapter discusses examples of gendered commission and impact of sexual violence committed by government forces against Syrian women and men since March 2011. It also discusses the effect of sexual violence on the status and roles of Syrian women before and within the Syrian armed conflict. It analyses the reasons why sexual violence was used, its consequences (which are closely linked to its reasons), and the extent to which government forces achieved their goals by using violence of a sexual nature. The author’s analysis shows that the patterns of sexual violence followed the chronology and dynamics of the conflict, becoming more extreme as attempts to repress opposition failed. The author argues that while the types of sexual violence by government forces evolved, its use exploited gender roles and cultural and social norms throughout the conflict. In doing so, sexual violence was effective in fulfilling the government’s goal of terrorising, humiliating, and disempowering families and, through them, communities. In detention, it is noted that sexual violence was also used as a tool of torture to extract information and force confessions.