Irish Feminist Network
  • Home
  • About
    • Mission Statement
    • Our Work
    • The Coordinators
  • Publications
  • News & Events
  • Articles
  • Take Action
  • Contact Us
    • Irish Organisations

Oops it happened again?

3/6/2013

14 Comments

 
A woman holds up three fingers which are painted with the Syrian flag.
At least 80,000 people killed. Children detained and tortured. Civilian populations targeted. Bread queues bombed. Rape as a weapon of war…

Each of these snippets is enough to make the blood boil. Unless we’ve heard them before… unless we’re warned that accompanying reports may be ‘unverified’… unless we’re too concerned with our own insular issues… unless these atrocities happen in one of those places where women wear hijabs and deaths are approximate numbers, devoid of names or faces.

What does it say about us, ‘in this modern day and age when we have instant access to information that we as, citizens of the world, can look away as millions of people suffer’? This was the question posed by leading Syrian activist and campaigner for women’s rights Rafif Jouejati (1), speaking on RTE Radio 1’s ‘Drivetime’ on 22 May 2013.

Later that evening, she addressed a public meeting at the National Women’s Council of Ireland, chaired by Ellen O’ Malley Dunlop, CEO of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (2). At this event, Rafif focused on the situation facing the women of her country. She spoke frankly about the prevalence of rape as a particularly chilling aspect of the Syrian war, telling the audience ‘if we don’t talk about the ugliness we become complicit’. The details were horrific: gang-rapes, often in front of family members, the insertion of metal implements or rodents into victims’ bodies. The sexualised torture not only of women of all ages, but also of children – both girls and boys – and of men held in detention. The frequent killing of victims, the incineration of corpses to eliminate evidence. The impact on survivors, within a society in which the stigma associated with rape often leaves victims afraid to talk about their ordeals.

Rafif also discussed other threats faced by Syrian women whose lives are at daily risk due to the fighting. She admitted that all sides had committed offences. However, she described how, from the outset of the initially peaceful uprising in 2011, the regime of president Bashar al-Assad has been responsible for the worst atrocities and human rights abuses. How, for instance, regime forces have used Scud missiles to attack residential neighbourhoods. Rafif stressed how the inaction of the international community has allowed such oppression to continue. In addition, she highlighted the plight of women and children who have fled Syria – the thousands living in refugee camps, often without adequate sanitation and nutrition.

Listening to Rafif was a personal challenge. Her words took me back to my days as a student activist while the war was raging in Bosnia in the 1990s. During this time, I met my husband – a Bosnian who had been seriously injured in Sarajevo and who was evacuated to Ireland for medical treatment. The current situation in Syria evokes many parallels with the Bosnian conflict, not least in the use of mass rape as form of terror. As the mother of three young Bosnian-Irish daughters, these resonances are all the more disturbing.

But how, as women in Ireland, can we respond to this assault on our sisters in Syria? Or should national issues be our main concern? Are feminists too Western-oriented to care? Do Syrian women not count? Can we, female ‘citizens of the world’, ignore their fate? These questions have plagued me since... ‘How to be a woman’ (as the popular book proclaims) and knowingly let this happen? What shade of feminism is deep enough to speak against war-time rape… in Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, or any other half-forgotten conflict? What can we DO? I can just share a few links to organisations which may be able to offer more concrete support, in particular, the Irish Syrian Solidarity Campaign. Some useful broadcasts and websites are also listed below. Perhaps, through raising awareness and taking action, we can make our own small responses to this crisis. Otherwise, Rafif’s assessment rings terribly true: ‘never again’ has become ‘oops it happened again’.

Links:

Irish Syrian Solidarity Campaign Facebook Page,


Esperanza Audio report on the visit of Rafif Jouejati,


RTE Radio 1 Drivetime radio show - Wednesday 22 May: Syria – ‘Rape as a Weapon of War,

NWCI - Rafif Jouejati Visits Ireland,

Dublin Rape Crisis Centre - Rape as a Weapon of War,

Human Appeal fundraising cycle in aid of orphaned Syrian children - 6 July 2013,

Women Under Siege Project,


International Rescue Committee - Syria Refuge Crisis.


(1)Rafif Jouejati is the Director of the Foundation to Restore Equality and Education in Syria (FREE-Syria - an NGO dedicated to women’s empowerment ), an official representative of the Local Coordination Committee in Syria, an executive committee member of The Day After project: Supporting a Democratic Transition in Syria and a member of the emerging Syrian Women’s Network (see NWCI link)

(2)Thank you to the NWCI for hosting this meeting and also to DRCC for showing their concern in relation to Syria and for all they have done to support victims of rape in the Balkans.

By Bronagh Ćatibušić

Bronagh Ćatibušić holds a Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics and is a lecturer, a developer of language learning resources and an academic writer.
14 Comments
Valerie Hughes
4/6/2013 12:18:51 am

Well done Bronagh for highlighting the visit of Rafif Jouejati in your excellent blog and her urgent appeal to the international community not to look away as milliions of Syrians suffer so appallingly .Al Qusayr is currently under siege by Assad forces .As we recover from a splendid sunny bank holiday weekend here,one can only imagine the terror of the population of Al -Qusayr being subjected to non-stop pounding from scud missiles , vacuum bombs and long distance artillery (in ample supply from Russia and Iran and unaffected by an EU arms embargo )and dreading the imminent fall of the town to the regime.An appeal by doctor Kassem Al Zein, who coordinates treatment in several makeshift hospitals, said the wounded were being treated in private homes after the town's main hospital was destroyed- while previous efforts to evacuate the wounded had failed as they were hit by regime forces and had to return back with even more injuries.Dr Al Zein has desperately cried out for help:
"Where is the world, where are the organisations who are claiming to help the people? We have lost everything."(al jazeera,4th june)
As Bronagh is very aware,Bosnians know only too well the consequences of the inaction of the international community
An Irish doctor,former Goal employee Dr Mary Mc Loughlin was trapped in Gorzade ,Bosnia in April 1994 when the town was being shelled by Serbian forces.Her desperate appeal on Morning Ireland for the protection of the town by the international community rang out across the world.Gorazde was saved.

One fears that Al Qusayr won’t be so lucky .

I would appeal to anyone concerned about the mass atrocities in Syria to please contact local political reps to support Rafif Jouejati's urgent call for a no fly zone etc.as expressed during her powerful interview on Drivetime on May 22nd (link supplied by Bronagh above) .

Reply
Leonie
6/6/2013 08:13:51 am

These atrocities, their impact on the lives of those living in Syria, should be hitting the headlines daily. We should be outraged into action - not looking away or pretending we don't see (esp in our multi media world) as women and children suffer. Thank you Bronagh for raising awareness through your writing.

Reply
http://www.stpetehealth.com link
27/8/2014 09:19:00 pm

Great article Lot's of information to Read...Great Man Keep Posting and update to People..Thanks 

Reply
http://www.tylerscottwedding.org link
10/9/2014 02:26:48 pm

Dear, I am very like your website and all post. it is great and usefull for us. i will often come here,and support any post which your push. Tks.

Reply
http://www.estrumat.org link
21/9/2014 09:13:51 pm

This is very interesting news website running 24 hours a day to keep their viewer updated all the time. 

Reply
http://www.merricktackle.biz link
29/9/2014 05:39:58 pm

Fantastic post however I was wanting to know if you could write a litte more on this subject? I'd be very thankful if you could elaborate a little bit more. Cheers!

Reply
http://www.sherbornbusiness.com link
19/10/2014 05:03:10 pm

This is such a great resource that you are providing and you give it away for free. I love seeing blog that understand the value. Im glad to have found this post as its such an interesting one! I am always on the lookout for quality posts and articles so i suppose im lucky to have found this! I hope you will be adding more in the future..

Reply
http://www.webfilmschools.com link
7/11/2014 03:17:35 pm

Well, very good post with informative information. I really appreciate the fact that you approach these topics from a stand point of knowledge and information. This is the first time, I visited at your site and became your fan. You are bookmarked. Please keep on posting.

Reply
weddingpicturesct link
2/4/2015 04:42:22 pm

It was a positive conversation and each day since then he has made an effort to come and speak to her about his success of the day. 

Reply
xbox live gold codes link
4/6/2015 08:27:38 pm

Get your free codes of xbox live game here and make your payable game absolutely free Thank you

Reply
hay day hack tool link
5/6/2015 08:34:56 pm

I wil be subscribing to your feed and I hope you post again soon.

Reply
abonnement xbox live link
22/9/2015 10:38:16 am

If you wanna free codes of xbox live game then you should visit on this site and make your payable game absolutely free Thank you

Reply
aliya link
15/7/2020 04:21:28 am

http://ansu.co.in
http://pinkflowers.in/city/NewDelhi/delhi-escorts.html
http://pinkflowers.in
http://zanu.in
http://wafiya.in
http://feel-different.in
http://a-way-2-silk.in
http://pinkangelsofmumbai.in
http://antra.co.in
http://zaila.in
http://saphia.in
http://payalmehra.in
http://pancy.in
http://pallavidutta.in
http://paari.in
http://edie.in
http://dassy.in
http://dally.in
http://cadee.in
http://joya.in.net
http://juhuescorts.biz
http://thaneescorts.in
http://want2relax.biz
http://pinkangelsofmumbai.in/andheri-escorts.html
http://pinkangelsofmumbai.in/bandra-escorts.html
http://pinkangelsofmumbai.in/colaba-escorts.html
http://pinkangelsofmumbai.in/juhu-escorts.html
http://pinkangelsofmumbai.in/thane-escorts.html
http://pinkangelsofmumbai.in/vashi-escorts.html
http://pinkangelsofmumbai.in/ahmedabad-escorts.html
http://thaneescorts.in/andheri-escorts.html
http://thaneescorts.in/bandra-escorts.html
http://thaneescorts.in/colaba-escorts.html
http://thaneescorts.in/juhu-escorts.html
http://thaneescorts.in/ahmedabad-escorts.html
http://thaneescorts.in/vashi-escorts.html

http://www.a-way-2-silk.in/ahmedabad_escorts.html
http://www.a-way-2-silk.in/andheri_escorts.html
http://www.a-way-2-silk.in/bandra_escorts.html
http://www.a-way-2-silk.in/colaba_escorts.html
http://www.a-way-2-silk.in/thane_escorts.html
http://www.a-way-2-silk.in/vashi_escorts.html
http://www.a-way-2-silk.in/juhu_escorts.html
http://www.feel-different.in/andheri-escorts.html
http://www.feel-different.in/bandra-escorts.html
http://www.feel-different.in/vashi-escorts.html
http://www.feel-different.in/juhu-escorts.html
http://www.ansu.co.in/andheri-escorts.html
http://www.ansu.co.in/ahmedabad-escorts.html
http://www.ansu.co.in/bandra-escorts.html
http://www.ansu.co.in/colaba-escorts.html
http://www.ansu.co.in/chembur-escorts.html
http://www.ansu.co.in/juhu-escorts.html
http://www.ansu.co.in/nerul-escorts.html
http://www.ansu.co.in/powai-escorts.html
http://www.ansu.co.in/panvel-escorts.html
http://www.ansu.co.in/saki-naka-escorts.html
http://www.ansu.co.in/vashi-escorts.html

Reply
wafiya link
8/9/2020 06:22:02 am

http://lucknow.wafiya.in
http://chandigarh.wafiya.in
http://jaipur.wafiya.in
http://vadodara.wafiya.in
http://ahmedabad.wafiya.in

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    We welcome submissions to the blog, subject to editorial review, please contact us if you're interested. The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IFN. 

    Categories

    All
    2in2u
    50:50
    Abc
    Abortion
    Abuse
    Action On X
    Advertising
    Austerity
    Backlash
    Bechdel Test
    Body Image
    Bookclub
    Book Club
    Book Review
    Broadcasting Authority Of Ireland
    Budget 2012
    Burlesque
    Caitlin Moran
    Clara Fischer
    Colette Fahy
    Comreg
    Conference
    Cosmetic Surgery
    Cuts
    Dating Violence
    Decision-making
    Democracy
    Diane Kelly
    Domestic Abuse
    Domestic Violence
    Dunnes Stores
    Edinburgh Fringe Festival
    Education
    Emma Regan
    Empowerment
    Equality Audit
    Eu Commission
    Events
    Female Sexual Experience
    Female Sexuality
    Feminism
    Feminism And Gendered Economic Inequality
    Feminism And The University
    Feminism And Young People
    Feminist Activism
    Feminist Books
    F Word
    F-word
    Gaa
    Gender Budgeting
    Gender Equality
    Gender Quotas
    Gender Stereotyping
    Gender-stereotyping
    Ger Walsh
    Government
    GRL
    Guest Blog Post
    Guest Post
    How To Be A Woman
    Hunky Dorys
    Ici
    Ifn
    #IFN2012
    Ifn Conference
    Ifn Events
    Immigrant Council Of Ireland
    Independentwoman.ie
    Ireland
    Irish Examinar
    Irish Feminist Movements
    Irish Feminist Network
    Irish Independent
    Irish Society
    Irish Times
    Iwd
    Jeanette Winterson
    Letters To The Editor
    Lgbt
    Liberation
    Literature
    Marketing
    Maternity Leave
    Media
    Media Images
    Menstruation
    Michelle Mulherin
    Mick Wallace
    Missrepresentation
    Miss Representation
    Music
    Naomi Elster
    News Media
    Nwci
    Objectification
    Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit
    Over Sexualisation
    Padded Bras
    Parental Leave
    Paternity Leave
    Poetry
    Politics
    Posters
    Pre-teens
    Priests For Life
    Privilege Checking
    Pro Choice
    Pro-choice
    Prostitution
    Queer
    Quotas
    Recession
    Reform
    Reproductive Rights
    Ruth Farnan
    Rydyard Kipling
    Science
    Sex
    Sex Education
    Sexism
    Sexism In The Media
    Sexuality
    Sexual Violence
    Silent Majority
    Sisters
    Spunout.ie
    Stripping
    Submissions
    Syria
    Transgender
    Trump
    Turn Off The Red Light
    Tv3
    Twilight
    Under Representation
    United Nations
    Vincent Browne
    Violence
    Weight
    Wexford
    Whai
    Women
    Women Hurt
    Women In Science
    Women In Sport
    Women In Syria
    Women's Aid
    Women’s History Association Of Ireland
    Workshop
    X Case

    Archives

    July 2017
    November 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    February 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    May 2011

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • About
    • Mission Statement
    • Our Work
    • The Coordinators
  • Publications
  • News & Events
  • Articles
  • Take Action
  • Contact Us
    • Irish Organisations