"I played a peaceful role in the revolution. Before I was arrested and detained for seven months, I would organise sit-ins calling for those detained to be released. After my release I continued campaigning for detainees, and for the economic, social and political empowerment of women,” Shurabaji told al-Araby al-Jadeed. She believes women have a major role to play in
It is painful to receive an award from a country that calls for human rights but has done nothing to protect civilians in Syria. - Shurbaji, award winning activist |
Shurabji was born in the town of Darya outside the capital Damascus in 1981. A mother of three, she has faced many challenges during the Syrian revolution. She has been displaced, detained, exiled and her husband was tortured to death last October. The activist insists that the difficulties she has faced have been the biggest motivation for her to continue working.
"The award is a platform for the oppressed. There many courageous Syrian women whose voices have not been heard. However, it is painful to receive an award from a country that calls for human rights but has done nothing to protect civilians in Syria,” she explains.
The activist insists that her dream will not be realised until Syria is free and democratic, something she will not give up fighting for.
Two other Syrians have already received the award: Sister Marie-Claude Nadav in 2010 for supporting battered women; and human rights activist Razan Zeitouneh in 2013, who was kidnapped along with her colleagues in the city of Douma in the suburbs of Damascus, and whose whereabouts remain unknown.
This article is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.