Social worker says women pregnant from rape are committing suicide

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Turkish online newspaper Aktif Haber published a March 30, 2012, article about what it calls the “secret massacre of women” in Syria. The reporter writes that refugees in Lebanon and Turkey have told her similar stories of violence against Syrian women, and that rape is being used as a method of punishment by the Syrian government.

A Lebanese social worker aiding Syrian refugees in Akkar, Lebanon, reports stories of women having been raped and impregnated before fleeing. She says that Muslim women in Syria are often victims of their own cultural beliefs in that the shame of becoming pregnant through rape can lead to suicide—and that this is a consequence of the current conflict.

One woman came to the refugee camp clinic wanting an abortion, according to the article. She became pregnant through rape and did not want to have the child. Her husband visited the clinic with her and told the doctor that he loved and respected his wife and that they wanted to stay together. The story implies that the woman was given an abortion.

The dates of the alleged rapes are unknown. Because Syrian government officials currently refuse to allow access to journalists, researchers, and aid workers, Women Under Siege cannot independently verify this report of sexualized violence in Syria.