3. Contextual overview — desk review
learning to drive the car.”, “Only when it is necessary and in
accordance with legal and ethical guidelines, while avoiding mingling with men, and when a woman shows responsibility, there is no harm in that. This makes it easier for her to
take care of herself or her children.”, “I think it is better for
you to devote your attention to your children and home only
and leave driving to men.”, “Women do not face challenges;
on the contrary, it is men who face women and the challenges.”, “The original role of a woman is to stay at home.”
and “A woman’s place is in the kitchen, not among men”.
These patterns show that GBVO functions
both as immediate personal violence and
as a broader tactic of social control: by
shaming individual women, attackers aim
to deter other women from speaking out or
participating in public life.
The pattern became even more visible during the public
celebrations on the first anniversary following the fall of
the Assad regime on the 8th of December 2024, where
women’s presence in the streets drew public criticism:
“This victory was not meant for girls to dance in the
streets, to raise their voices and sway in public. To take
pictures with the flag draped over their shoulders. This
victory is a gift from God, born of blood and destruction,
of the sounds of shelling and rockets. This flag that you
now use to decorate the squares has turned into coffins
filled with tragedies. It is nothing but a symbol covered in
blood and dust, from the minarets of mosques and the
tears of mothers”.
This victory was not meant for girls to dance
in the streets, to raise their voices and sway
in public. To take pictures with the flag
draped over their shoulders.
27