Al Hayat focused in its issue of yesterday on the spillover effect of the poor security conditions in Idlib, the area north of Syria controlled by opposition factions and its impact on civilians, especially women whose lives are already undermined by restrictive traditional norms. Such situation, the newspaper wrote, has exacerbated the misery of those women and completely changed their fates thus limiting their freedom of movement for the purpose of work or studying, where keeping safe has become the highest ambition. For more insight on the situation, Al Hayat spoke to women residents of Edleb. Khulood, one of them, said local inhabitants, in general, are extremely concerned about the security situation in the city, but the social status of a woman and the way the community judges her has made her yet more restrained. She lamented that a woman in Edleb has to think carefully about every detail of her life and behavior, while keeping in mind that she needs a male escort when she goes out, who is normally her son, husband or brother. “I cannot go shopping alone even in the neighborhood,” Khulood said. For her part, Batool Mohamad, from the town of Hanbushieh in the western countryside of Idlib, who works at one of the NGOs in the area, said that women are now used to this lifestyle. They stay home unless they have work to go to or school to attend, Batool grieved. For the full article, please visit the following link: (https://goo.gl/CM2oSL). (Al Hayat, January 15, 2018)
