Women News Network: Syria woman-only ‘battalion’ aims to train women to use weapons for protection

(WNN) Homs, SYRIA: In a move that has brought international concern and attention to the plight of the women of Syria under continued and intensified violence, a group of women from the city of Homs has formed a women-only ‘battalion’ to begin efforts to train women in the use of firearms for personal protection. The group has also made a public statement saying they are not affiliated with any military organization.

According to The Daily Star, the women-only Banat al-Walid battalion has stated that their ultimate goal is to: “…help the wounded and refugees wherever they are, to train women to use various types of weapons to protect themselves from [President Bashar] Assad’s gangs, and to monitor the regime’s crimes and ensure they are published and exposed in the media.”

Sexual violence has not only occurred while under military or security detainment, some of the violence has also occurred in the homes of Syrian citizens, says Human Rights Watch in a detailed June 15 release outlining cases of torture and sexual humiliation at the hands of what is thought to be Syrian government forces, or allied operatives.

“The international community urgently needs to address the human rights violations going on in Syria,” said Human Rights Watch Mid-East Director Sarah Leah Whitson. “The [UN] Security Council should send a strong signal to the Assad government that they will be held accountable for sexual violence and other human rights violations – by referring the situation to the ICC [International Criminal Court at the Hague in Geneva],” continued Whitson.

http://womennewsnetwork.net/2012/06/24/syria-woman-only-battalion/