Report: Syrian refugee women face sexual harassment, exploitation in Lebanon

Discriminatory policies imposed by the Lebanese government and insufficient international assistance are creating fertile conditions for the abuse and exploitation of Syrian refugee women, an Amnesty International report has warned.

The report highlights how the Lebanese government’s refusal to renew residency permits for refugees and a shortage of international funding leaves refugee women in a precarious position. This puts them at risk of exploitation by people in positions of power including landlords, employers and even the police, the reports states.

Gender Researcher at Amnesty International Kathryn Ramsay said: “The combination of a significant shortage in international funding for the refugee crisis and strict restrictions imposed on refugees by the Lebanese authorities, is fuelling a climate in which refugee women from Syria are at risk of harassment and exploitation and are unable to seek protection from the authorities.”

Many refugee women said to researchers that they struggle to meet the high cost of living in Lebanon and to afford food or rent. Some said that they received inappropriate sexual advances from men or offers of financial or other assistance in exchange for sex.

The report noted that 20 percent of Syrian refugee households in Lebanon are headed by women. In some cases women became the main income providers supporting the family after their husbands were killed, detained, forcibly disappeared or abducted in Syria.

According to Amnesty, around 70 percent of Syrian refugee families are living significantly below the Lebanese poverty line.

The organisation called on Lebanon to urgently amend its policies to ensure women refugees are protected and all refugees are able to easily renew their residency permits without restrictions. It also called for greater international support for the refugees in Lebanon.