In a video circulated online of a girl in Raqqa, northeast Syria, a girl was being followed by a mob of angry people. The girl screamed “I swear I’m innocent” while a crowd surrounded her, eager to wash away her shame. The gentle girl thought that, by proving her purity, she would survive the ferocity of the crowds. These are not family members or relatives we’re talking about only, for men who have no connection to the girl yet they vilify and stone her. It is the clearest image of the patriarchy and tribalism in the modern era.

Syrians have many memories of countless incidents of women being killed and abused. Each of us can think of at least two. I recall, during my adolescence, an incident of a girl having her head smashed in my city’s public square. Another incident involved the killing of a pregnant woman and her fetus in a nearby village, and a third incident concerned a relative of mine who was brutally abused by her husband. Therefore, this occurrence is not new; it’s just another installment of an ongoing issue.

The video of the girl in Raqqa showed her being smeared with mud and brutally beaten, with strangers and children joining in with sticks. This took place in the town of Tal al-Samen.

“I swear, I’m innocent.” 

“No one touched me.” 

“I’m still a virgin.” 

These are all Syrian expressions used to indicate a girl’s intact “honor” and “virginity.” The dialects may differ between Raqqa, the coastal region, Damascus, and Suwayda, but the essence is the same, and the accusation is one. If the girl proves her “purity,” she is allowed to live, and in other cases, the girl may be killed even if her “social innocence” is confirmed.

A man doesn’t need much to exert power over any girl around him. Simply being a man grants him the right to many things, from harassment to murder and assault. Young boys are even called to participate in the frenzy of brutality. And what about the deterrent, the law? What do laws on this matter look like in a country like Syria, where people are still trying to obtain the most basic rights of life? It’s a divided country, and its laws are only made up of dozens of regulations that often overlook women.

That viral video is just a sample of similar incidents that were never brought to light. Its girls and women didn’t have the chance to be seen by the world while being beaten. Instead, they became both a subject matter and media material through which some men exercise their power, oblivious to authority on one side and exercising authority on the other. Ironically, they exercise this power in a country ruled by a dictatorship that closely resembles the power dynamics seen in the video.

It wasn’t just one girl in the video, but two. Sisters actually. There is no information about why they were brutally beaten except for two words: “honor killing.” These two words were enough for anyone who wanted to participate in the beating frenzy. If someone asked, “Why are you beating them?” the crowd’s response would be enough: “For the sake of honor,” and that’s when hands would reach out and join.

The dialects may differ between Raqqa, the coastal region, Damascus, and Suwayda, but the essence is the same, and the accusation is one. If the girl proves her “purity,” she is allowed to live, and in other cases, the girl may be killed even if her “social innocence” is confirmed.

What is most striking in the brutal scene is the children partaking in beating the girl. Boys, no older than 12, wielding sticks and striking with all their might as if they have a vendetta against women worldwide. In fact, some boys eventually grow up seeking revenge against women just because they are women. This perpetuates a cycle of violence and patriarchal practices.

In the midst of the beating, men encouraged each other to inflict more brutal attacks on the girl. The phrase “odrob heil”, “hit hard”, was heard echoing through the crowd. It wasn’t just any form of beating, but the severe kind that could lead to the girl’s death, and it is ultimately allowed because another man said, “hit hard,” and because the beating is “for the sake of honor.”

The incident coincided with the death of feminist activist Heba Hajj Aref in Idlib. She was found hanged in her home. Heba was a former member of the local council of the town of Bzaah. Some people claimed that Heba was murdered and did not commit suicide. Threats to Heba’s life preceded the incident due to her political and feminist work, prompting her to step down from her position in the local council.

There isn’t much difference between Heba and the girl from Raqqa. The charges of political work and honor share a strong and ancient connection. Engaging in fields considered exclusive to men is seen as breaking societal norms and boundaries imposed by men on women throughout history.

Some people’s thoughts on the matter prompted my attention. I saw some people saying: “Are these your liberated areas?” implying that the areas under Syrian opposition control are liberated, and women should not die there. This is a narrow reading of the political reality, as if the revolution brought improvements to the lives of Syrian women. We all know that’s not true, and the noose is still tight around our necks. The difference lies in its tightness in some places compared to others, that beating a girl in public is allowed in one region and forbidden in another. Women are still beaten inside homes silently, behind closed doors, similar to the beatings incurred by the girl in the video.

One of the ironies in the incident of Tal al-Saman is that there is a nearby camp with the same name, inhabited by about 6,630 displaced people. In the city of Raqqa as a whole, there are more than 103,000 displaced people distributed among three camps suffering from a shortage of aid. Despite these tragic conditions, a woman’s honor remains a priority, surpassing hunger, displacement, fear, and oppression—the empty circle in which we constantly move in.

The Tal al-Saman incident is a complete example of the direct effects of wars on women. In addition to the majority of camp residents being older folk and women, two sisters were brutally beaten nearby.

Later on, the Internal Security Forces, the “Asayish,” affiliated with the Autonomous Administration, arrested three suspects accused of assaulting the two sisters, who were subsequently transferred to the Women’s Protection Units under the Women’s Coordination of the Autonomous Administration.

Wars contribute to deepening and widening violence against women, but they are not the main cause. Violence against women extends beyond politics or religions; it has deep roots in human history. When humans sought to organize themselves with the rise of the agricultural era and the disappearance of the Stone Age, they realized that controlling women’s reproductive lives meant that they could get more children, and as such, more labor. Additionally, using women as tokens of exchange with other tribes contributed to establishing peace. Later, religions and politics played a role in lowering the status of women to the minimum.

However, the problem is that women are still treated as if we have just emerged from the Stone Age, despite the fact that thoughts and tools bear no resemblance to the Stone Age except for one thing—the treatment of women.

Changing reality requires changing the intellectual, cultural, and even symbolic structures in societies. However, this, given its difficulty, becomes almost impossible in countries engulfed in wars, divisions, and economic collapse. Until the situation for women improves, we will hear many girls screaming “Wallah bunnayyeh” (I swear, I’m innocent).