Contents
Abstract
Executive summary
4
5
1. Introduction and background
1.1 Study rationale
1.2 Objectives of the study
1.3 Research questions
1.4 Scope and limitations
1.4.1 Scope of the study
1.4.2 Limitations of the study
7
8
9
9
10
10
10
2. Methodology
2.1 Study design overview
2.2 Desk review approach
2.3 Primary data collection
2.3.1 Key informant interviews (KIIs)
2.3.2 In-depth interviews (IDIs)
2.3.3 Focus group discussions (FGDs)
2.4 Sampling strategy
2.5 Data analysis procedures
2.6 Ethical considerations and data protection
13
13
14
14
15
15
16
16
16
17
3. Contextual overview — desk review
3.1 The spillover effect of violence
3.2 GBVO in the Syrian media and
information landscape
3.3 Systemized GBVO against journalists, media
activists and human rights defenders
3.4 The role of media and online platforms in
GBVO in Syria
3.5 Media platforms scanning
3.5.1 GBVO as a tool to silence differences
in opinion
3.5.2 Using ethnic and sectarian oriented
GBVO comments to intensify hostility
3.5.3 Spread of appearance-based harassment
regardless of dress or status
3.5.4 Using GBVO to marginalize women’s
presence in the public sphere
19
19
4. Findings
4.1 Findings overview
4.2 Forms and prevalence of GBVO in Syria
4.2.1 Documented forms of GBVO
4.2.2 Survivor testimonies and
the continuum of violence
29
29
30
30
20
23
23
24
25
25
26
26
31
4.3 Target groups and perpetrators
4.3.1 Risk factors and survivor experiences
4.3.2 Perpetrator profiles, motivations, and
structural role
4.4 Platforms and channels of GBVO
4.4.1 Cross-platforms escalation patterns
4.4.2 Asymmetry in digital literacy
4.4.3 Platform governance failures
4.5 Narratives and discourses surrounding GBVO
4.5.1 Victim-blaming discourse
4.5.2 Disciplining social norms and the erosion
of collective resistance
4.6 Impacts of GBVO
4.6.1 From individual harm to collective and
societal consequences
4.7 Legal, institutional, and community responses
4.7.1 Survivor experiences with reporting
4.7.2 Structural impunity
4.7.3 Community responses and
coping strategies
4.8 Role of media in perpetuating and
countering GBVO
4.8.1 Media as amplifier and potential
counterweight
4.8.2 Media as key leverage point
32
32
33
34
34
35
35
35
36
36
37
37
37
38
39
40
40
40
41
5. Conclusions
5.1 Synthesis of patterns
5.2 Implications for media, civil society, and
women’s participation
43
43
6. Existing efforts
47
7. Recommendations
7.1 For media organizations
7.2 For civil society organizations
7.3 For policymakers and legal actors
49
50
50
51
References
Abbreviations and acronyms
52
56
44