Idlib – Women and children are the main victims of wars. They are badly affected by wars, poverty, and domestic violence. There are many reasons for the increase in the divorce rate in Northern Syria.

Ruaa al-Aref left her abusive husband. She says she has no regrets about her decision. She told us that she had to give up her rights to take care of her three children and to speed up her divorce case. “I kept silent when they (family members) forced me to keep living with my husband. I always thought my family for not raising my children without their father but I couldn’t bear the violence I faced anymore,” Ruaa al-Aref said while talking about her marriage.

She raises her children by producing handicrafts

Ruaa al-Aref has now lived in a camp built for displaced people between Ma'arrat al-Nu'man and Sarmada. She has produced handicrafts and received a monthly family allowance to raise her children. She was forced into child marriage and this is another reason for her divorced. In Northern Syria, many girls aged between 12 and 15 years old have been still forced into child marriage.

She was forced into marriage when she was 14 years old

Yasmine Bakour is now 18 years old. She was forced into marriage when she was 14 years old and her husband was 18 years old, “My husband was dependent on his family, weak but he inflicted violence against me to hide his weakness. I always did what he wanted. I was kicked out of the house when I first objected to him,” said Yasmine Bakour, who went to her family’s house after being kicked out. As a divorced woman, she was not welcomed by her family and they tried to take her back to her husband, she convinced her family by saying, “If they took me back there, I would kill myself.”

“Would he accept if I had a relationship with someone else? Then why I should accept?”

31-year-old Mahasin Zaidan, who lives in the village of Mishmişan in the north of Idlib decided to divorce her husband after finding out that her husband was cheating on her, “He always had a roving eye,” Mahasin Zaidan said she lived with her husband for years to save her marriage even if she felt that he was cheating on her. But one day, she was how her husband was cheating on her on social media and that was the last straw for her, “Would my husband accept if I had a relationship with someone else? Then why I should accept this?” asks Mahasin Zaidan.

Addiction causes domestic violence

30-year-old Alia Al Hussein has struggled to build a new life after discussing with her husband, a drug addict. She says she cannot sleep until morning because she is afraid of being killed. Her husband tried to kill her after using drugs. “He tried to choke me to death, I hardly saved myself. Then, I left my house,” said Alia Al Hussein.

Women don’t trust in the courts

Women in Idlib have faced difficulties in obtaining their legal rights such as getting custody of their children or receiving alimony due to the high cost of hiring a lawyer and lack of legal practices in implementing marriage contracts. And divorce cases last longer. For these reasons, many women in Idlib don’t trust the courts.

Women and children have no guarantee

Fotun Al-Awad, a women’s rights defender, draws attention to the increasing divorce rate in northern Syria. She told us that the reasons for the increase in the divorce cases are the ongoing civil war and the economic crisis, poverty, and domestic violence. “Women and children have no guarantee,” said Fotun Al-Awad.