Shaza Hamo considers herself among the lucky ones. The 36-year-old activist and mother of five survived the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that killed at least 50,000 people in Syria and Turkey last month.
Hamo lost her home, her money and all of her belongings. Still, she called and checked on the women in her community, often running to find infant formula for her friends’ babies, despite the fact that she never knew where she would be staying on a given night. She jumped from one friend’s place to another.
But then another earthquake rocked southern Turkey near the Syrian border last week. For the first time in her life, Hamo and her 15-month-old slept in the streets. Hamo found herself as vulnerable as the women whose mental and physical well-being she used to care for.
Nearly 3 million people were impacted by the earthquake in northwest Syria, where Hamo lives. Over 300,000 people are now displaced and at least 11,000 families are now homeless.
Earthquake survivors in Syria don’t know how to begin rebuilding. Their nation has been at war for more than a decade, meaning thousands of people are displaced, poverty levels continue to rise and public infrastructure is nearly decimated. Syrian women in particular are suffering from a mental health crisis, facing the brunt of compounding trauma marked by years of death, destruction and despair that has only been exacerbated by the latest earthquakes.
After the 2011 pro-democracy protests in Syria turned into a civil war, many men died or left to fight, forcing women to shoulder the responsibilities both inside and outside the home including finding shelter and food, raising children and securing employment. Women were now the breadwinners and the decision-makers.
But those changes came abruptly, and at a cost. Women also became more susceptible to abuse, sexual exploitation and gender-based violence. Organizations that provided resources and…
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