This really brought tears to my eyes…love is truly a greater force then we realize…

Can you imagine for just a moment, sleeping in your bed, only to hear the sounds of soldiers’ boots kicking in your doors, dragging you out of your home by your hair, beating you, violently raping you, and forcing you to be a sex slave for the military? Can you imagine being gang-raped by soldiers, only to have your body mutilated, breasts sliced off in a final act of barbaric sadism?

Then, can you imagine, after enduring such torment, such violence, such pain, that your family not only turns you away, but kills you or your other sisters, friends, or women in your village for bringing dishonor to them?

This is what the young girls and women of Syria are facing.

Over ten thousand Syrian refugees are believed to be seeking refuge in Turkish camps and border towns like Jisr al-Shughour, which have become the sites of mass graves, systematic rape, and relentless torture.

Four teenage sisters from the Syrian-Turkish border town of Sumeriya are now among the increasing number of rape victims in Syria. Recovering in a Turkish hospital, these women are facing a lifetime of shame in a country where honor killings are used as a means of “restoring honor” to families whose daughters have shamed them.

Shamed them by being violently raped by a pro-government militia.

This isn’t the first time rape has been used as a way to demoralize a country and a people. For centuries, militaries have used rape in a strategic and systematic way to degrade a people they wish to control. But, it seems as though the tables are turning.

After the news spread of the sisters’ violent ordeal, a group of men from a nearby town vowed to marry these women, defying their own traditions and defying the pro-government forces who use rape to squash the revolution.

Musab Jani, a young man who supports marrying rape victims states:

“Dignity and reputation are the most important things for Syrians. And, women are a big part of this and the regime knows it. So, for this reason, they do this to us as the opposition.”

In a culture that prizes virginity, rape victims cannot dream of marrying. But, Bassam al-Masry, a 32-year-old man whose younger brother Basil was shot dead by security forces in Jisr al-Shughour on June 3 (his funeral was June 4, and apparently ended in a massacre by security forces) also heard of the sisters’ story.

“I hope that I will have the honor of marrying one of these girls,” he said. “I know that these girls suffered, they were taken against their will. I don’t care what they look like, the point is to stand by them, and I do with all of my heart.”

This is really a moment where you look at all the pain and fear and agony that these women and children and men are enduring and you think to yourself, “Wow, there is hope. There is hope for the future of these people. There is hope for humanity.”

Now, why would I think that? After reading about the tortures, rapes and mass murders of the protesters in Syria, why would I think of “hope”?

Because, men like Bassam al-Masry and Musab Jani exist. They not only exist, but they are willing to speak. They are willing to speak on behalf of women. They are willing to speak against the tradition of “honor killings” and the use of rape as a tool of war. This gives me great hope that slowly but surely, things are changing on a global scale.

Call me naive, call me an idealist, call me a fool, but reading those words that men in Syria pledged to marry rape victims brought tears to my eyes. Literally, I was so moved in thinking that these men would stand up for the women of Syria and stand against honor killings and stand up to those who wish to enslave these women, that I couldn’t help but think that the world is shifting. Seems small, after all these are only quotes from two men talking about four sisters, but it is the sentiment, the intent, the energy behind their words that matters.

We don’t have to live in a world where women are valued only for their virginity. We don’t have to live in a world where men are so afraid of the feminine energy that they will do anything to destroy it, even if it means raping girls and women, mutilating them in the process. We don’t have to live in a society where fear of government trumps our instincts to reach out to one another in love.

We can stand together and stand against those who wish to enslave, torment and destroy our brothers and sisters. Stories like this give me hope for our world that we can move beyond ignorance and pain and into a more loving, more peaceful world.

You may say that I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one…

http://twodaymag.com/blog/view/syrian-men-stand-up-for-women-vow-to-marry-rape-victims/