By Verónica Bayetti Flores • @veroconplatanos • 9 years ago

Are we listening to Syrian women?

Nada, a Syrian refugee, is wearing hijab and speaking, with quote: "We ask for humanity - for people to treat us like human beings."

In the ongoing crisis in Syria, we’ve rarely heard from mainstream media sources about how Syrian women have been experiencing this violence, and the ways that gender-based violence is impacting their lives in this time of crisis.

According to a new report by International Rescue Committee, Syrian women are facing three major forms of gender-based violence: harassment and exploitation, domestic violence, and early forced marriages.

For the millions of women and girls whose lives have been uprooted by the more than three-year-old Syrian crisis, daily life is an exhausting struggle – from searching for clean water and food for their families, to navigating foreign cities or refugee camps while trying to stay safe and avoid harassment, to grappling with threats of domestic violence in their own homes.

Drawing on interactions with thousands of women and girls in the region, the International Rescue Committee has published a report shedding light on the challenges facing displaced Syrian women and girls, as expressed in their own words. The question is…are we listening? Are we listening to what they have to say – and are we responding to their words with action?

Read the full report here.

1bfea3e7449eff65a94e2e55a8b7acda-bpfullVerónica is a queer immigrant activist, artist, and rabble rouser.

New York, NY

Verónica Bayetti Flores has spent the last years of her life living and breathing reproductive justice. She has led national policy and movement building work on the intersections of immigrants' rights, health care access, young parenthood, and LGBTQ liberation, and has worked to increase access to contraception and abortion, fought for paid sick leave, and demanded access to safe public space for queer youth of color. In 2008 Verónica obtained her Master’s degree in the Sexuality and Health program at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. She loves cooking, making art, listening to music, and thinking about the ways art forms traditionally seen as feminine are valued and devalued. In addition to writing for Feministing, she is currently spending most of her time doing policy work to reduce the harms of LGBTQ youth of color's interactions with the police and making sure abortion care is accessible to all regardless of their income.

Verónica is a queer immigrant writer, activist, and rabble-rouser.

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