SUHA EL-ALİ

Idlib- Women are subjected to more rights violations in Idlib occupied by the Turkish state and Turkish-backed Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). The Syrian Salvation Government supported by the HTS passed a “Public Morality” draft law aiming to eliminate the fundamental rights of women. As part of the law, the “morality police” was formed to confine women to home. Many women are detained and tortured by morality police in the occupied Idlib. NuJINHA spoke to women in Idlib about the inhuman practices of the morality police.

She is confined to the home

“They turn my life upside down,” said Islam al-Rawas, a 24-year-old university student. She was arrested by the HTS members because she was seen in the city with one of her teachers (a man who is not her relative). After being held in detention for five days, she was released. Since then, her family and relatives have not allowed her to go out. Islam Al-Rawas told us that her family and relatives had forced her to leave the university while she was about to graduate from university due to this incident.

She described the incident as tragic caused by “traditions and customs that confine women to the home and monitor all movements and behaviors of women. The morality police was formed by the HTS to limit women’s freedom and prevent women from education and working by using psychological and physical violence.”

The “Public Morality” draft law passed by the Syrian Salvation Government in occupied Idlib obligates girls over the age of 12 to cover their hair, banning women and men from working together in the workplace and hookah and imposing a ban on music at wedding ceremonies, cafés and public markets. The women of Idlib think that the draft law passed by the HTS’s government aims to limit women’s freedom and prevent women’s participation in social life more.

She was detained

Randa Al-Soko is a 25-year-old displaced woman living in Idlib. She was once detained by morality police for not complying with the dress code imposed on women. “After 48 hours of detention, I was asked to pay $200 for my release. I was subjected to insults and violence by the morality police. I still suffer from psychological problems and trauma.”

Randa Al-Soko thinks that the “morality police” formed by the government aim to limit women’s freedom and rights by ordering what women should wear and how they should live.

‘Women should raise their voices against these practices’

Rawan Al-Alou, a human rights activist, carries out activities to empower women in Idlib. “Women should object to the new unit called morality police by using legal procedures,” she said, stressing that women are subjected to more rights violations by the HTS. “Women’s rights defenders must struggle against the rights violations. They should raise their voices against these practices.”