Protecting Syrian refugee women and girls from gender-based violence in Turkey: public policy, law instruments, practices and burden sharing

The Arab Spring, which started with the peaceful protests against authoritarian regimes in the Middle East and North Africa region in 2011, has evolved into a civil war in Syria, including various regional and international actors. As a result of the conflict which has been raging for 8 years, more than 5.6 million Syrians have fled the country while more than 6 million people have been displaced internally. In this regard, women and children have been the most affected population by the multi-faceted nature of the civil war either during the conflict and in the post-conflict settlement. Being under the temporary protection regime in Turkey, Syrian women and girls have become more vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence as well as structural violence and the strong influence of customs, traditions, culture and religion on women. Moreover, the further purpose of this research is to investigate the multi-faceted reasons and consequences of sexual and gender-based violence on Syrian women and girls residing in Turkey in the post-conflict settlement in the context of gendered refugee experience and feminist perspective. In addition, protective and preventive measures on SGBV which are provided by Turkey, as a host state for more than 3.6 million Syrian refugees, will be unfolded. Then, the effectiveness and adequacy of the measures will be discussed in order to shed a light on the magnitude of the problem and to provide an insight into the undiscovered aspects of the conflict deeply concerning women and girls.