The war has helped create new social phenomena in Syrian society, according to a member of the cabinet.
The Minister of Social Affairs and Labor, Rima Qadri, said these phenomena were more common and worse in the areas that fell out the government’s control during the war.
Qadiri singled out the violations against Syrian women, including child marriage, whether forced or voluntarily. However, she admitted that the child marriage was a form of protection for little girls from greater evils, such as murder or rape.
Qadiri was speaking at a meeting of experts from the Syrian Commission for Family and the UNDP, who gathered to discuss the plan put forward by the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
Qadiri said her Ministry and the Syrian Commission for Family are working on a report on the new social phenomena, outlining, “many mechanisms that prevent the prevalence of such phenomena.”
Qadiri said that the new Syrian reports will revisit the previous reservation Syria has made to CEDAW. She indicated that the new amendments to the Personal Status Law meet the international misgivings about Syria’s position regarding CEDAW.
Syria has ratified CEDAW but placed certain reservations regarding the total equality between men and women.
A Syrian Family commission told Al-Watan that the new report will address some of the old reservations, particularly Article 2, which stipulates for the equality between men and women.
Shadia Mehrez added that this goes well with the Syrian constitution. She urged Syrian lawmakers to help in this regards.
Syrian MP Zeinab Khawla said efforts are still needed to change certain Syrian laws, including the rights of women who marry non-Syrians to pass on their nationality to their children.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
