You want freedom? This is your freedom: rape as a tactic of the Assad regime

In March 2011, demonstrations erupted in the southern city of Deraa after a dozen schoolboys were arrested and tortured for painting anti-government graffiti on a wall. This event is considered as the spark that triggered the Syrian uprising, which turned into a protracted war marked daily by excruciating violence. According to the widely believed narrative, when family members went to enquire about the fate of the arrested boys, a security official replied: ‘Forget your children. Go make more children. If you don’t know how, bring your wives and we will show you’. Whether true or not, this story made an impact and fuelled the existing anger against the regime. Meanwhile, from the very beginning of the revolution, in people’s minds, the threat of sexual abuse lingered.