Barriers persist: Syrian women's long struggle in the military and security sectors

Despite the significant progress achieved by Syrian women over the years of struggle in education, medicine, and politics, they continue to be dismissed and marginalised in the military and security fields, due to deep-rooted political and cultural stereotypes around gender roles.

For decades, Syrian women have been unable to climb anything beyond very junior roles in both the military and security sectors. Even in cases where women have obtained military training or graduated from a military college, they seldom reach leadership roles or positions of influence.

After the outbreak of the Syrian war in 2011, there were scattered attempts to bring women into these sectors in some regions of Syria, but these weren't sufficient to break down the deep structural barriers which have long prevented the integration of women into the security and military institutions.

Before 2011, female roles in the Syrian military were limited and mostly confined to medical, administrative and logistical support tasks. After the outbreak of the war, and despite the appearance of some female units, their roles remained marginal.

Female ex-army recruit Rania Asaad spoke to The New Arab about her experience in the Syrian military: "We were just numbers with no voice or agency. Not even our military uniforms prevented us from being discriminated against. There were no real signs that there was ever a genuine desire to alter the role of women within the army and security agencies."

She added that female representation remained merely formal and often seemed to be exploited for propaganda purposes. Even those female officers who held titled positions were never granted the authority or space to initiate or influence. Moreover, she believes that the lack of clear mechanisms for promotion and the dominance of a male mentality within these institutions formed two major obstacles to any real progress.

In contrast to that, the Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria (AANES) did allow women to enlist in organisational roles and combat units, the most prominent being the "Women's Protection Units" (YPJ) which played a key role in confronting the Islamic State (IS) group, especially in the famous Battle of Kobani.

Women forming a component of the Kurdish armed presence in northeast Syria had a huge impact in reshaping the image of women within the Kurdish community – women were transformed from a subservient element of society into actors and partners of men.

Despite this, researcher in gender studies Reem Asaad believes that the unique case of what happened in AANES, despite its exceptionalism, "didn't lead to deep, structural changes in the military establishment."

She adds, "Societal pressures remain, and there are persistent efforts underway to push women back into traditional roles, especially as the intensity of conflict has declined."

As for in the opposition-controlled regions, during the initial years of the conflict, there were tentative attempts to enlist women into performing security-related tasks, like inspections at checkpoints and security centres. However, these efforts didn't last long.

Rahaf Suleiman, an employee in a court in Syria's northwest, says: "Even within these institutions, we were subjected to pressure to push us back into our traditional roles. Even when we would prove our competence, the system would constantly push us back, as if any attempt at advancement should be viewed as temporary or out of the ordinary."

Women's rights activist Ghalia Rahhal believes that the exclusion of women from the military and security institutions isn't only linked to political decision-making, but is also the product of a cultural and historical system that has entrenched an association between weapons, security and masculinity.

"The security establishment in the era of the former regime wasn't built as a tool for performing a public service, but as a tool of oppression<" Ghalia explains.

"Therefore, women never saw it as a space in which they could participate, especially when there was no vision at all for an effective and respectful integration of women in these spaces."

She adds that the female absence was systemic, even the few opportunities available to women were mostly superficial roles and clearly for propaganda purposes.

"There is no legal framework protecting women within the military environment, nor mechanisms for fair promotion, which deepens women's frustration and prevents them from participating meaningfully."

Legal and military researcher Sufyan Ahmad, however, is more positive, and says there are continuing steps to activate the role of women in the security and military establishments in the "new Syria."

"During the last few years, we have seen increased female participation within police and security departments, like the division for the protection of women and children from violence, which is partially run by women, and has achieved noticeable results in parts of northwest Syria," Sufyan says. 

He pointed out that women's enlistment into these sectors was still below what was desired, but it was a promising beginning, adding that no laws were preventing their participation, and courses and training programmes were in place which women could join to qualify for certain roles.

However, he acknowledged that the fact that military work was often physically demanding and dangerous meant that it was still viewed by many as the exclusive domain of men, which meant female representation in the combat and field command sectors remained weak.

Many of the challenges for Syrian women wishing to join these fields stem from deeply ingrained social perceptions. The stereotypical image of women as peaceful civilians is incompatible with the combative and violent nature of these fields, says Ghalia. 

"When women participate in security work, people gain more respect for the institution because it appears closer to society and more aligned with a respect for human rights. But the problem is that the doors remain closed, and the system continues to intimidate women rather than encourage them," she continues.

The Syrian state has never issued official statistics on the number of women employed in the army or security forces. However, unofficial estimates indicate that prior to the Syrian revolution, female recruits numbered no more than 2-3 percent of the armed forces, whereas women employed in the security agencies didn't exceed 1 percent of staff. Moreover, the roles assigned to them were mostly limited to monitoring women or office work.

Ghalia points out that many Syrian women are highly qualified and have plenty of experience in civil or social work, similar to that in the security sector.

However, she says: "The issue isn't to do with a lack of capability or readiness, but a lack of open doors — when fair conditions are in place, as well as training and support, nothing will stop women from becoming an integral part of the security and military system."

Hadia Al Mansour is a freelance journalist from Syria who has written for Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Monitor, SyriaUntold and Rising for Freedom Magazine

Article translated from Arabic by Rose Chacko