The New York-based Women’s Media Center’s Women Under Siege Project has been using modern technology, from e-mail to YouTube to Twitter, to carry out ground-breaking research into sexualized violence as it unfolds in Syria.
Our cutting-edge crowdmap uses Ushahidi technology to literally put incidents of sexualized violence ‘on the map’, allowing survivors, witnesses, aid workers and medics to report incidents. The map enables NGOs and peacebuilders to develop an idea of patterns or hotspots of violence and to identify areas where survivors might be in greatest need of assistance.
Women’s Media Center’s Women Under Siege Director Lauren Wolfe released a report last week on the initial findings of the project, with data revealing that the consequences of rape and sexualized violence during the Syrian conflict have ranged from pregnancy to sexually transmitted diseases to depression. Of the 117 separate pieces of data identified by the team of academics and epidemiologists working on the project, 80 percent include female victims, of whom 89 percent reported rape.
The reports vary widely, with some describing atrocities such as the use of drugs to paralyse victims, whilst a disturbingly high 42 percent testify to gang rape and 20 per cent of attacks left the victim dead. Many reports mention multiple victims; one, for example, describes the rape of 36 women by government forces.
Wolfe explains that reporting on such atrocities as the conflict unfolds is extremely problematic, so every report is currently classified as “unverified”, but, she explains, “Our hope is that when things calm down, we’ll be able to do on-the-ground reporting and really triangulate each story.” In the meantime, the findings are corroborated by similar reports in the news and from contacts in the country.
Read the complete story and find links to the report at Insight on Conflict, published 23 July 2012.
The New York-based Women’s Media Center’s Women Under Siege Project has been using modern technology, from e-mail to YouTube to Twitter, to carry out ground-breaking research into sexualized violence as it unfolds in Syria.
Our cutting-edge crowdmap uses Ushahidi technology to literally put incidents of sexualized violence ‘on the map’, allowing survivors, witnesses, aid workers and medics to report incidents. The map enables NGOs and peacebuilders to develop an idea of patterns or hotspots of violence and to identify areas where survivors might be in greatest need of assistance.
Women’s Media Center’s Women Under Siege Director Lauren Wolfe released a report last week on the initial findings of the project, with data revealing that the consequences of rape and sexualized violence during the Syrian conflict have ranged from pregnancy to sexually transmitted diseases to depression. Of the 117 separate pieces of data identified by the team of academics and epidemiologists working on the project, 80 percent include female victims, of whom 89 percent reported rape.
The reports vary widely, with some describing atrocities such as the use of drugs to paralyse victims, whilst a disturbingly high 42 percent testify to gang rape and 20 per cent of attacks left the victim dead. Many reports mention multiple victims; one, for example, describes the rape of 36 women by government forces.
Wolfe explains that reporting on such atrocities as the conflict unfolds is extremely problematic, so every report is currently classified as “unverified”, but, she explains, “Our hope is that when things calm down, we’ll be able to do on-the-ground reporting and really triangulate each story.” In the meantime, the findings are corroborated by similar reports in the news and from contacts in the country.
Read the complete story and find links to the report at Insight on Conflict, published 23 July 2012.
