FORGOTTEN WOMEN ‘CONSCIENCE CONVOY’ INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2018

office@forgottenwomen.org www.forgottenwomen.org #nowomenofwar

The Syrian conflict has now been raging for 7 years to date on 8th March.

Close to 1 million people have lost their lives and tens of thousands have been detained and imprisoned. According to the last statistics of Syrian human rights organisations the number of WOMEN detained by the ruling authorities between March 2011 and the end of 2017 is 13,581. The number of women still held in prisons by them is more than 6,736. Of this number, 6,319 are adult women and 417 are children.

These numbers only represent the women held in official prisons; the number of people who are kept in different buildings and facilities used as prisons is still unknown. Some of the women were arrested or abducted during pregnancy and gave birth in prison or detention centres, and some were impregnated while detained after being repeatedly raped. In fact, the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria has declared that for reasons such as stigmatisation and trauma, cases of sexual violence have been under reported. Other women have been detained along with their children who are forced to witness all kinds of daily torture their mothers go through. The crimes committed against the women since the beginning of the Syrian war, including sexual assault, torture and unlawful detention are all considered as crimes against humanity and war crimes according to international law. Although there are many unanswered questions, the only known truth is in conflicts, rape and assaults on women are used as a weapon of war. Violations and crimes against women have not only been committed by the ruling power, but also by the mercenaries and the terrorist groups.

As women from the UK and all over the world, we are undertaking the journey of the “Conscience Convoy” for the women as a call to the world to communicate the voices of the women detained and tortured in Syria.

Our aim is: - To draw attention to the suffering of women who are being tortured, raped, executed, imprisoned and made refugees since the beginning of the war in Syria; - To initiate an attempt to release all girl and women prisoners unlawfully held in Syria; - To invite all humanity to take effective measures to protect women during conflicts and wars.

We are organizing a convoy to leave from London on 5th March to join women from all over the globe. On 6th of March we will join other organisations and a convoy will start its journey from Istanbul passing by Izmit, Sakarya, Ankara, Konya and Adana to reach the Syrian border from where on the morning of 8th March 2018 we will make a call to the world on International Women's Day. We will visit Syrian women in a refugee camps and also conduct an aid distribution before returning to Istanbul and London.

We welcome all advocates of human rights, women’s rights and those who wish to stand against oppression to use women as tools of war and humiliation.

For more details please contact:

Miss Lucy Rae, Communications Directors, Forgotten Women Charity. 214 Whitechapel Road, London E1 1BJ. Tel: 0203 770 0595. Email: office@forgottenwomen.org www.forgottenwomen.org

Forgotten Women is a charity dedicated to helping women in crisis and emergencies. The charity was set up after witnessing first-hand the aid for sex and manipulation of women in vulnerable situation.