FROM SYRIA TO TURKEY: BEING A WOMAN Prof. Dr. Özlem CANKURTARAN Research Assistant Hande ALBAYRAK Editors: Prof. Dr. Şevkat BAHAR ÖZVARIŞ Social Psychologist Türküler ERDOST Funded by European Union Civil Protection United Nations Population Fund and Humanitarian Aid Funded by European Union Civil Protection United Nations Population Fund and Humanitarian Aid FROM SYRIA TO TURKEY: BEING A WOMAN Prof. Dr. Özlem CANKURTARAN Research Assistant Hande ALBAYRAK Editors: Prof. Dr. Şevkat BAHAR ÖZVARIŞ Social Psychologist Türküler ERDOST FROM SYRIA TO TURKEY: Funded by European Union Civil Protection United Nations Population Fund and Humanitarian Aid BEING A WOMAN Merdiven Publishing: 51 First Edition: April 2019 ISBN 978-975-8991-40-2 Press Elma Teknik Basım Matbaacılık Ltd. Şti. İvedik OSB Matbacılar Sitesi 1516/1 Sok. No: 35 Yenimahalle/Ankara www.elmateknikbasim.com Merdiven Publishing Şehit Bilgin Sokak No: 6/1 Maltepe - Ankara Tel: 0312 232 30 88 Faks: 0312 232 31 02 www.merdivenreklam.com www.merdivenyayin.com [email protected] > 2 FROM SYRIA TO TURKEY: BEING A WOMAN Prof. Dr. Özlem CANKURTARAN Research Assistant Hande ALBAYRAK Hacettepe University, Department of Social Work “Strengthening Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health, and Sexual and Gender- Based Violence Response Services for Syrian and Other Refugees through Women and Girl Safe Spaces (WGSS)/Women’s Health Counseling Units Project” This publication has been prepared and printed by Hacettepe University Research and Implementation Center on Women’s Issues (HUWRIC/HÜKSAM) in the scope of the “Strengthening Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health, and Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Response Services for Syrian and Other Refugees through Women and Girl Safe Spaces (WGSS)/Women’s Health Counseling Units Project”. All publishing rights are owned by Hacettepe University Research and Implementation Center on Women’s Issues (HUWRIC/HÜKSAM). No citation can be made without reference. All rights reserved. This document covers humanitarian aid activities implemented with the financial assistance of the European Union. The views expressed herein should not be taken, in any way, to reflect the official opinion of the European Union, and the European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains. 3 < FROM SYRIA TO TURKEY: Funded by European Union Civil Protection United Nations Population Fund and Humanitarian Aid BEING A WOMAN FOREWORD Turkey has faced an intense influx of migration, which started in 2011 in the wake of the civil war in Syria. Those who migrated to Turkey were initially settled in camps and certain provinces, but most soon moved to other parts of the country. This was a novel experience for Turkey, and, in the beginning, the country’s officials had to fumble their way through many problems. In recognition of the shortcomings in the services provided in this field, Hacettepe University Women’s Research and Implementation Center (HUWRIC), started to implement the Project for “Strengthening Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health, and Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Services for Syrian and Other Refugees through Women and Girl Safe Spaces (WGSS)/Women and Girl Safe Spaces” in our area of expertise. The project was launched in 2015 and is ongoing under the protocol agreed with the Ankara Health Directorate, in partnership with United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and with the financial support of the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO). Under the project, we have created Women and Girl Safe Spaces in Alemdağ, Gülveren and Yenimahalle. Thus, for the women who needed support and who were experiencing problems exacerbated by being both women and refugees, we have created spaces where they can act freely and safely, and can access services. Academic studies are meaningful as long as they are not disconnected from the field. In this process, we have benefited from the field itself, i.e., the experiences of refugee women and girls. We have established bonds with them, and thanks to these bonds, we have learned a huge amount from them. We have also had the chance to convey our professional experiences to them and try to help them solve their problems. They have grown stronger; we have grown stronger. Another major responsibility that stems from working at a university is to evaluate what has been done with a scientific approach, and to share our findings with others so that they may provide guidance. We consider this work valuable in that it conveys the experiences of women, and it allows scientific assessment of the subject. When undertaken by a great team, the work conducted proves to be all the more valuable. Everyone contributes their own opinions, perspectives and experiences to the eventual product. For their contributions to this work, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Prof. Dr. Özlem Cankurtaran, the Head of the Executive Board of the HUWRIC, who has dedicated her life to the women’s rights movement and the empowerment of women; and to Research Assistant Hande Albayrak, who has exhibited courage and fortitude in choosing to work in such a challenging field at the very beginning of her career. We are also indebted to social workers, Esra Yurtseven, Tuğçe Uygun and Yonca Usta, who > 4 have acted as fine interpreters between researchers and participants using their professional bonding capabilities; and to Psychologist Sevinç Sürmeli. Moreover, we are thankful to our project coordinator Sinem Aydın for the effective facilitation. In addition, we must thank the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), and the Ankara Health Directorate for their valuable cooperation, mutual understanding, goodwill and tireless efforts in this important and lengthy project. We have faith in our work, and in the power of women and girls. We derive the strength from this power. We hope to conduct many studies in which we can grow stronger together, move on together to better days, and sow the seeds of new stories of empowerment. Prof. Dr. Ü. Şevkat BAHAR ÖZVARIŞ HUWRIC Director 5 < FROM SYRIA TO TURKEY: Funded by European Union Civil Protection United Nations Population Fund and Humanitarian Aid BEING A WOMAN LIFE STORIES OF WOMEN WHO HAVE MIGRATED TO ANKARA FROM SYRIA DUE TO THE WAR IN SYRIA, FROM A GENDER PERSPECTIVE From Oppression to Women’s Solidarity: Stories of Syrian Women A woman is nothing. She is entitled to nothing and she has no right to anything. She cannot have any rights before or after marriage. This is what upsets me the most. Women cannot have any rights anywhere. Neither as a child with her family, nor as a wife with her husband. This saddens me greatly, and I feel much pressure on me. A woman is supposed to tolerate everything: her parents as a young girl; her husband, her mother-in-law, and her children after marriage, and everything else. She has to take on the entire burden, and she has no rights. That is, she is not entitled to go outside to get fresh air, and she does not have even a couple of minutes to set aside for herself. In no way does she have any rights. Sometimes, I cry for the time gone, for the lost time, for having done nothing. I believe that my life has been spent in vain and wasted. (Zobea, A42, M, 5C, Aleppo)* * While quoting women’s narratives, identifying information of women such as age (A), marital status (married (M), divorced (D), number of children (C) and the place they live in Syria has been given in parenthesis. > 6 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................................9 Women in Pre-war Syria ...................................................................................................................................10 Problems Faced by Women During the War in Syria, and Reasons for Their Decision to Migrate .................12 The Migration Process of Syrian Women, and Their Lives in Turkey As the Country of Asylum ..................15 Women and Girl Safe Spaces (WGSS) .............................................................................................................17 RESEARCH METHOD AND PARTICIPANTS ...................................................................................................19 ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................................................................23 LIVES OF WOMEN AND GIRLS IN SYRIA ......................................................................................................23 Being a Girl in Syria .........................................................................................................................................23 Getting Married and Married Life in Syria .......................................................................................................27 Being a Woman in Syria ...................................................................................................................................31 LIFE IN WARTIME AS DESCRIBED BY SYRIAN WOMEN ...........................................................................33 Women in Wartime ...........................................................................................................................................33 Being a Woman in War: Kidnapping, Violence, Rape, Intimidation, Pressure and Child Marriage