Women in Syria

Situation for women in Syria is much better than the surrounding countries. “An important one is the custody of children till the age of 15 years in case of marital disputes. Another hard-won right on the cards is the right to children of marriages between Syrian women and non-Syrian fathers to take the nationality of their mother.”(Hubha Singh, April 25, 2009) Syria has a very high percentage of women who are literate.  “Women’s literacy levels went up from 33 per cent in 1980 to 79 percent in 1999.”(Hubha Singh, April 25, 2009)  The women in Syria still have to marry who ever their family tells them to, which is common in many Middle Eastern countries. A young woman is Syria was being forced to marry her cousin but on their wedding day she ran away to the man she truly loved. She claims that her family now wants to kill her because of her actions. “In Syria, where women's organizations estimate more than 200 women are murdered every year by brothers, cousins or fathers” because of the daughter running away from an arranged marriage.(Lina Sinjab, October 12, 2007) A step forward for Syria was in 2010; they opened its first licensed shelter for abused women. “The situation of women in Syria in compare to the rest of the Middle East is pretty positive about women's work insertion. They are the 29% of the manpower in Syria, in the last years women have been capable of becoming owners of their own enterprises and many different organizations.”( Syrian Women’s Evolution, October 26, 2010)

Hubha Singh. Striding ahead without fear. The status of Women in Syria-A debate. April 25, 2009. http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/?p=2796. (December 30, 2011)

Lina Sinjab. Honour crime fear of Syria women. BBC News. October 12, 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7042249.stm. ( December 30, 2011)

 Syrian Women’s Evolution .Syrian Women’s Role in the 21^st century. October 26, 2010. http://nirvanaseattlehotmailcom.blogspot.com/ (December 30, 2011)