Hello Syria

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A March 16, 2012, Al-Jazeera article reports female prisoners were sexually assaulted at the Air Force intelligence branch in Aleppo. A former prisoner says that she and other women “went through a very humiliating body search that reached the level of sexual molestation with threats of rape.” The woman said they were told that there is no problem raping those “who have no honor to begin with.”

In the same article, Al-Jazeera interviewed a psychologist working with males and females who have been sexually assaulted or raped because of the ongoing violence. The psychologist reports that “many [of the former male prisoners] were subjected to physical abuse, torture, and sexual violence. It started with forced stripping and reached different levels of sexual molestation in an attempt to humiliate them.” The locations of the imprisonment and assaults are unspecified.

The dates of the reported rapes and assaults are unknown. Because Syrian government officials currently refuse to allow access to journalists, researchers, and aid workers, Women Under Siege cannot independently verify this report of sexualized violence in Syria.

(Source: womenundersiegesyria.crowdmap.com)