SYRIA'S HIDDEN TRAGEDY : WHY ARE RAPE CASES IN SYRIA GOING UNREPORTED.

 photo: voanews

Rape is nothing new in war theaters, but the past few decades has seen a vertiginous escalation of rape cases in civil war conflicts. It all started with Bosnia, nearly a quarter century ago, when rape was a way to break the back of the opposition and disperse entire villages.

In Africa, both in the Congo and Sudan, it reared its ugly head with force: hundreds of thousands of cases, many of them leading to horrific injuries or death, were reported. They were not happenstance. They were deliberate, planned and systematic acts.

It seems now this horrific reality of war has come to Syria.

An NGO operating in the civil war theatre in Syria reports that rape has become systematic. targeting anyone in the Syrian army's path. The rapes are often done in groups against one woman, and even more often the family of the woman is forced to watch the act.

What is astounding however, is the complete blackout of reporting about rape in
Syria. Has rape become commonplace? Have people become disinterested? Are the numbers not high enough?  Why are the news not covering this problem?

But according to the NGO agency, the numbers are staggering. Just one doctor reported treating nearly 2,000 cases in Damascus by herself.

We might never know the true numbers of this tragedy. Most women in Syria do not report the cases, nor seek care, in fear or shame. Rape is a taboo, an ignominy, a shame that can taint the whole family for generations. Then again, with the Syrian armed forces at the center of this crime, who can these women report to? The local police?

Rape in Syria, like everywhere else, is used as intimidation, or to clear a place where the opposition is taking hold as people flee the violence, and to break newly made alliances between the opposition and civilians. And rape in Syria is not limited to women, it spills over to children and men.

In some cases women who had been raped in captivity report that rapes were often of the most extreme nature, with the perpetrators using rats and mice to bring untold pain to their victims as other women witnessed.

There is no network for these victims. There are not sufficient hospital nor medical structures, let alone counseling.

The IRC is petitioning the UN security council to file a report at the ICC's step to initiate investigation and hopefully prosecution of the perpetrators.

The people who are committing these acts are doing so with total impunity. there is no system in place to bring them to justice.

Source: Al Hittin/ 1.27.13