Women's group to provide assistance to female divorcees

A local NGO has launched a programme aimed at finding shelter and jobs for ostracised divorced women in an effort to help them cope with the travails of single life. According to Youmna Abu Hassan, who sits on the board of the Society for Developing the Role of Women in Syria, the project aims to rehabilitate female divorcees by educating them, teaching them skills and providing them with shelter, in order "to make them economically independent”. According to a study by the Central Statistics Bureau, there were roughly 17,000 cases of divorce nationwide in 2004. Abu Hassan explained that the majority of these women "couldn't return to their parents' house once they had left it". The study also notes that the divorce rate is almost 25 percent higher in the capital, Damascus, than in rural areas. This is because urban women tend to be more progressive and assertive. "Divorce cases increase in societies that undergo many social changes in a very short time," said sociologist Dr Hazar al-Gindi. "Working women are still considered odd in our society. We still look at women through the traditional perspective; that their role should be confined to raising children and housekeeping." Meanwhile, divorced women are often left bereft of the financial means to support themselves. In some cases, they are even left without a place to live in. "I actually had to become a maid just to find shelter," said Kinaz al-Samman, 29. Al-Samman divorced after marrying at only 13 years old, not an uncommon practice in Syria. Divorced women also complain that they suffer from popular stigmas associated with marital separation. "'Divorce' is a word easily said by the husband, but it badly affects the woman's life and even tarnishes her image," said 19-year old divorcee Laila Khalil. "Divorced women are treated as if they’re guilty, and aren't socially accepted." Children can also be the unwitting pawns in divorce cases, with husbands sometimes only consenting to give up custody of the child in exchange for financial concessions from the mother. Although the government three years ago gave the mother the right to keep children until they reach 14 years of age, they are often obliged to surrender them to the father due to lack of money to care for them. What's more, children themselves often experience trauma when parents divorce. According to al-Gindi, most child beggars and thieves in the country are children of divorced parents. A study by UNICEF released in 2003 showed that 85.5 per cent of child labourers in Syria were the offspring of divorced parents. According to al-Gindi, cultural and media institutions could help improve the lot of divorced women by contributing to "shaping a new, contemporary image for the social role of women".