In a country ravaged by conflict, crushed by the weight of a humanitarian and economic crisis, women and girls have to fight for safe spaces in which they can assert themselves, breaking down stereotypes and overcoming enormous difficulties.

By Cecilia Dalla Negra - Communication Manager of Un Ponte Per

Twelve years of conflict, over 6 million internally displaced persons, 14 million in a state of need: these are the numbers of an emergency that is slowly disappearing from the news, considered no longer an emergency even by international donors. These are the numbers of a war that goes on, even when it seems that the weapons are silent, leaving behind it a social fabric to be rebuilt. It is the Syria of 2023, where in the shadows and amidst multiple restrictions, women continue to move. Those who have always, in contexts of conflict, paid the highest price. Those who are doubly oppressed, by war and by patriarchal systems that are only reinforced by those conflicts. But who do not give up, and with determination try to build a future free from gender violence by breaking down the wall of stereotypes and oppression.

Gender Based Violence (GBV) continues to be a central component of the Syrian humanitarian crisis, persistently affecting the lives of millions of women, girls and children. Violence that takes many forms: from physical abuse to early marriage, from sexual exploitation to social oppression, through the lack of space for self-determination, economic independence, freedom of movement, of study, and for the youngest even just of play.

It is a destroyed Raqqa, still prey to its own rubble, that in which we operate with our Safe Spaces for women and girls, also thanks to the support of the Otto per Mille funds of the Italian Buddhist Institute Soka Gakkai.

A city "that is trying to recover from the devastation with all its strength, but which is still extremely unstable," says Aliya, Coordinator of the Un Ponte Per protection team, which has been working for years to guarantee women and girls protected places in which they can express themselves, get to know each other, and try to overcome trauma together thanks to the support of specialised teams and the precious work of our local partners.

"The people who live here in most cases are not originally from Raqqa, but have a history of multiple displacements behind them," Aliya continues. "They do not feel at home, and especially for the youngest, it is urgent to create safe spaces where they can live their childhood freely: go to school, play, grow up in safety," she says. The inability to access education or to complete their studies is also a form of violence to which girls and young women in Syria continue to be subjected because of the war: it is estimated that more than 2 million girls were forced to drop out of school in 2021 alone.

"I believe it is a shared desire everywhere in the world to see boys and girls have access to education and lead a normal life. In Raqqa this is still impossible. Since we opened Safe Spaces 2 years ago, over 3,000 have registered. It was immediately obvious how important they were for the families. We try to accompany them in their growth, let them play, enjoy their childhood; give them basic care tools that are completely absent in a life of conflict and displacement. And in the meantime, we try to support the families, and mothers in particular, to understand if the girls are at risk of child labour or early marriage, to prevent violence,' Aliya continues.

Adolescent girls and young women who survived the war today face multiple levels of violence and discrimination, including on the basis of their age, marital status and displacement conditions. Violence that takes place in the home, in the tents of refugee camps, in the workplace, in the street. They are women penalised by a social system that still struggles to recognise an active role for them: they are less likely to have access to income and are exposed to extremely disadvantaged economic conditions. Years of conflict have only exacerbated this condition, leading society to turn in on itself. Yet it is often these young women who have to carry on their shoulders the weight of families in which husbands, fathers and brothers are dead, displaced, injured. A paradox that squeezes them between the need to survive and the difficulty of being accepted as the driving force of a society trying to take back its future.

"Young women are asked to take on adult responsibilities because of family needs, but at the same time they are exposed to gender-based violence at home as well as in the workplace. Providing safe spaces where they can meet, talk to each other, network to support each other, then becomes crucial,' Aliya explains.

But difficulties and discrimination are transversal, and do not spare older women. Those who have been forced to face the last years of their lives far from homes that have been destroyed, among the tents of refugee camps, often alone and with health problems to deal with. This is why, from a feminist perspective, Gender Based Violence (GBV) is to be seen as part of a larger and more complex system, which goes beyond the humanitarian aspect and questions the conditions of conflict as much as social norms and inequalities in power relations. Which oppress, restrict and control the lives of girls, young women and women. A network in which multiple levels of vulnerability intersect and need to be addressed as a whole.

To claim one's right to a normal childhood amidst the rubble of war; to be free to play and learn; to build one's own economic independence free from male dependency or to be able to access care in the last years of one's life, then become precious and necessary spaces of self-determination, which it is essential to build and defend.

"That is why we will continue to support civil society working in Raqqa to ensure support for their community. This is what we want to do,' says Aliya.

"We want to continue to build networks of women to support each other in their journey of empowerment and self-determination.We want to continue to provide opportunities for them to meet, safe spaces for them and the their children."