"I Screamed, But No One Came": The Horrifying Sexual Violence Facing Syria's Women And Girls

Women are pawns in the Syrian war.

That's the conclusion of the United Nations' Human Rights Council, which just released anew report on the horrific sexual violence facing the people of Syria.

It documents an astounding array of atrocities. And it highlights the way Syrian government forces, under the control of Bashar Assad, have systematically used rape and sexual violence as a tool to victimize and humiliate its perceived enemies.

The stories in the report, written after interviews with more than 450 people, document a terrifying and systematic pattern of sexual abuse by the government during house raids, at checkpoints and in detention centers.

Rape and sexual humiliation weren't a bug of the system - they were a feature, designed to break combatants and destroy the structures of family life.

The report documents the way rape was deployed during government raids on the homes of people it suspected to be in the opposition.

As one women explained: "My home was invaded ... One security officer told me to go to my room and he followed me in. He began insulting me and telling me he would 'do me' and that I would never 'be clean again.' I screamed, but no one came."

In some instances, women and girls recounted being raped outside or forced to walk naked in the streets in front of tanks. One woman told interviewers that she'd been raped in front of her brother. Another woman said she'd been raped in front of her husband and three young children. Some women who resisted were killed, or were forced to watch their relatives die.

Women were taken to detention centers as a way to pressure their male relatives to surrender.
In other cases, women and girls were taken to detention centers as a way to pressure their male relatives to surrender.

At government checkpoints, particularly in opposition-held areas - a near-daily reality in Syria, where most roads are controlled by someone - women and girls suffered similar humiliations. Sometimes women were separated from their groups and raped. One woman recalled being pulled off a bus and taken to a house with eight other women, who were all naked and injured.

Even elderly women were not safe. Many were subject to "intimate searches." One woman recalled being taken to a basement and beaten by a militia member, who also touched her breasts and genitals. Another said she had "an object inserted in her genitals."

The worst abuse, however, was reserved for the girls and women in detention. As the report explains, "thousands of women and girls were also apprehended, including female lawyers, journalists and activists expressing anti-Government sentiments. Large numbers of female relatives of men perceived to be opposition supporters, or suspected of belonging to armed groups, were also arbitrarily detained."

For those girls and women - some as young as 9 years old - there was a parade of horrors: Pregnant women were raped. At least one interviewee miscarried as a result.

On arrival, women were sometimes stripped naked in groups and forced to squat in front of an audience as a male officer inserted his fingers into their genitals. In detention, many women reported rape. Some reported electrocution of their genitals and breasts. Others said they had been gang-raped.