My life was full of my smiling friends, my school activities, our family time, and the support my family gave my hobbies and talent in drawing. I lived a colorful life until I was raped. In patriarchal societies, rape is sometimes considered as a woman’s destiny, no matter how hard she tries to escape it. […]
I was raised at my grandmother’s house where I grew up, lacking a mother’s tenderness and a father’s advice. My father was an alcoholic. I never loved him. He used to come home at night and beat my mother, who tolerated his behavior and insults because she married him out of love. She loved him […]
I lost my father to a terminal illness when I was fourteen years old. His death affected various aspects of my life, but my mother was a tough woman and a great support. Years passed, and when I turned nineteen, my cousin Jaber proposed to me. We got married and I found myself in a […]
Education was not one of the main priorities for our family. I dropped out of school after finishing primary school, and I was happy. Having fun was my only concern. When I turned fifteen, I realized that any move I make can be held against me. Two years later, a man called Louay asked for […]
My father forced me to marry a married man because he could no longer provide for me. Soon enough, my husband’s other wife started to fight with me, and her daughters would also beat me and invade my privacy. As for my husband, he was obedient to his first wife, and only cared about having […]
PAX, together with Oxfam Novib, SOMO and The Rights Forum held the second of a two-part webinar on current developments in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The webinar focused on the human rights problems resulting from business activities with the illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The discussion among experts in the […]
I was fourteen years old when I got married to Bassem. At first, we lived with his family. My husband’s father and brother joined ISIS. ISIS members started to visit our house to try and persuade my husband to join them, but he refused. To avoid the pressure on my husband to join ISIS, we […]
PAX, together with Oxfam Novib, SOMO and The Rights Forum organized the first webinar of a two part series called Current Developments in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Last April it became clear that the new Israeli coalition agreement explicitly contained the possibility of an annexation of the West Bank. This webinar focused on […]
This blog also appears on www.humanitariandisarmament.org Introduction In conflicts around the world, the use of explosive weapons in populated areas (EWIPA) is one of the greatest risks to civilians. Research by the British NGO Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) indicates that when these weapons are used in towns and cities 9 out of 10 […]
Wednesday, May 6 I haven’t spoken to Ahmed much in recent weeks. And of course the few times we did talk it was about corona. Corona here in the Netherlands, but also corona in Idlib. I didn’t dare bring up the fact that a few months ago he had fled head over heels from his […]