Women, Peace and Security Network - Canada: Documenting sexual violence has been the biggest challenge, because of Syrian cultural norms that regard rape as a source of shame and dishonor.

Women, Peace and Security Network - Canada

7 mins · 

Documenting sexual violence has been the biggest challenge, because of Syrian cultural norms that regard rape as a source of shame and dishonor.

Terrified women and unwilling families are more concerned about not tarnishing familial honor than in seeking legal justice, especially since there is no foreseeable avenue for prosecutions while the conflict rages on.

Instead, the victims have fled to neighboring nations, divorced or been forced to marry older men, ending up as second or third wives. In the worst cases, they have been killed by their own relatives, in what the families see as a way of restoring honor.

"This is a topic as a society it is forbidden to talk about, but we need to document it," Saleh said.

In Syria, struggling to shine a light on victims of sexual violence

Soon after the young woman was released by the Syrian government in a prisoner exchange, activists began noticing the signs.

LATIMES.COM|BY LOS ANGELES TIMES

Debra V. Wilson