26/09/12

Description

The BBC interviewed a woman from Homs who said she was arrested at a checkpoint and repeatedly raped in detention at the Palestine Security Branch in Damascus along with three other women. She said the rape was daily and took place in front of the other women, who would have their blindfolds removed. “It was done in rotation,” she said.

The woman told the BBC that her interrogator used rats and mice during the sexual assaults on herself and other women. She said she heard screams and later saw blood on the floor of the prison. She described overhearing men saying at one point: “Is this good enough for you? They were mocking her. It was obvious she was in agony. We could see her. After that she no longer moved.” She did not, however, specify who exactly she was referring to in this particular attack.

After two months, the woman escaped and fled Damascus, she told the BBC.

“Every few days, they would bring a new girl,” she said, “I’ve now been out for six or seven months. How many new girls have they brought in, in this time?”

WMC’s Women Under Siege has previously mapped another report mentioning the use of mice during a sexual assault; it is still unclear whether these two reports are related. Our previously mapped report allegedly took place either in a Damascus apartment or at the Palestine Security Branch: https://womenundersiegesyria.crowdmap.com/reports/view/60

The dates of the reported rapes are unknown. Because Syrian government officials currently refuse to allow access to journalists, researchers, and aid workers, Women Under Siege cannot independently verify this report of sexualized violence in Syria.