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Mickey Langley
AP English III
12 December 2016

Syrian Refugee Women: Inadequate Education, Inadequate Circumstances

The violence in Syria has caused many people to flee their homes and seek shelter in
bordering countries. Regardless of what class they came from, everyone now only has what they
are able to wear or carry. Struggling to start anew proves troublesome for all. In the Middle
East, Syrian Refugee Women and their families opportunities for a more propitious future are
severely limited due to lack of access to education, which fuels a cycle of poverty, no escape
from unemployment, and loss in confidence.
Trying to find a job as woman in the Middle East is already extremely difficult due to the
stiff, and strongly enforced gender roles. Attempting to do so uneducated becomes nearly
impossible. With knowledge comes power, and with an education a girls confidence can
increase exponentially.
Insufficient education stokes a destructive cycle of poverty. For parents without
education, the job choices are few and far between, and those that do exist do not provide enough
to fulfill the needs of their family. The Lebanon

magazine Executive, ran an article titled Time

is running out for Syrian
Refugee kids out of school that reported about the issues kids face that
keep them from attending school. The article states 70% lived below the poverty line of $3.84
per person per day in 2015. Forcing parents to make unfortunate decision of requiring their kids
to obtain jobs, leaving them to grow up without schooling, causing the disastrous cycle to

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continue. Girls have even fewer options because they are unable to do most physical labor,
which leaves them either sold into human trafficking, or married off early. Child marriages do
not provide a girl with the chance of a furthering her education. Child marriages also contribute
to the second most common cause of death for girls between the ages of 15-19 [which] is
complications from pregnancy and childbirth according to an article titled Raise your Voice
for Girls Education posted by a UN Foundation Organization called Girl Up. Being married off
early eliminates the need for education. Her job is now to give birth and raise kids, who all must
live off one income from the father. Not only is this damaging to a girls health, but her
self-esteem as well. She is incorrectly taught to believe her sole purpose of her life is limited
only to that of reproducing and running a household. Educating people, girls especially, can help
to end this vicious repetition of impoverishment because for every year of schooling a girl has,
she will earn 10-20% more pay. With that pay, women in the developing countries are likely to
put as much as 80-90% of their profit back into the community (Challenges Girls Face).
Providing girls with education opportunities not only breaks the cycle in their own family, but
allows them to help others break out as well. An old African proverb that says if you educate a
girl, you educate an entire nation (The Education Roadmap to 2030).
A girl who attended school has infinitely more options than one who did not. With
schooling, women can work at shops, sell goods they make themselves, repair things, teach or
help others to adjust, and more(Peterson). As Archbishop Bashar Warda said, while discussing
the benefits of educating Syrias youth in Can Education slow the Exodus of Syrian and Iraqi
Christians?, university gives them an alternative it think about, It gives them a choice. Many
of the refugee girls in Lebanon and elsewhere grow up completely unaware that they even have

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options; they are taught the womans place is in the home and nowhere else. How can society
expect women to break free from the gender stereotypes forced upon them if they dont even
know they can? Knowledge is power. Syrian refugee women already have a new found freedom
and confidence because of the move outside their home country making this the perfect time to
provide them with information about education opportunities. Family and social pressures
disappear, desperate times call for desperate measures, and due to lack of available jobs for
illegal males, women, for the first time, must get a job to help sustain their family (Chick). While
most look at war and see only negatives, positive outcomes can occur if one tries hard enough.
Speaking of negative outcomes, on the opinion of educating these women, an unfavorable
side-effect of attempting to reach these women means some husbands become even more
controlling. Limiting their wives and children even less that before. But the risk of this
happening is not great enough to stop the effort. Because educating one woman can help bring
others in, and free those trapped by overruling spouses.
As seen in the news recently and reported by Lauren Gambino, the Taliban fear educated
girls more than drone strikes. This is not a new concept: since time began men have disliked the
idea of women taking up similar roles as them. Up through the early 1900s men in the United
States feared women furthering their education past basic reading and writing. As stated in the
article The Womens Rights Movement discussing the history of womens rights, published by
the American Social Reform Movements Reference Library, after WWII upon returning home
the men found a new standard: women had taken their jobs and became equally as qualified; and
many men disliked the change. The men wanted the women to know their place is in the
home, sewing and cooking, not out in the world, exploring and discovering. When girls learn all

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the possibilities, they discover they have options, realizing their options empower them. For
example, educated women tend to seek healthcare for themselves and their families more than
those who arent. (Education Roadmap). Thus women with an education highly more confident
in themselves. This newfound courage and ability to contribute financially to the family, allows
them to finally have involvement in the family decisions. (Chick) Working women also take
more leadership roles in their communities, which helps to instill self assurance in their children
and in turn fueling a positive cycle of confidence, along with a better understanding of gender
equality. This public form of confidence can also transfer to their personal lives. For some
refugees, removed from social pressure in Syria and able to attend classes provided by aid
groups, gained the courage to leave and divorce abusive husbands--something that was
previously completely unheard of (Chick).
Educating women stands as one of the most important tasks we have as a society to allow
strengthening of the economy and improvement for the future of the next generation. Girl Up
Inc, an association sponsored by the United Nations Foundation, currently funds a effort to fight
the lack of education access-- titled #WithRefugees. Its purpose is to raise awareness and funds
to help Refugees, specifically girls, because the educating our girls will educate our world.
Instilling knowledge in the minds of the girls gives them the opportunity to acknowledge their
options and have the confidence needed to pursue them. Reaching these women in their new and
uncertain environment is the best opportunity. Outside the social and patriarchal restraints that
normally hold them back, there is chance to teach them and help them, and show them a
different, happier future.

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Works Cited
"Challenges Girls Face." Girl Up. Girl Up Inc, UN, n.d. Web.
Chick, Kristen. "For some Syrian women, refugee life proves unexpectedly liberating."
Washington Post, 5 Nov. 2016. Global Issues in Context. Accessed 29 Nov. 2016.
"Can Education slow the Exodus of Syrian and Iraqi Christians?" America, 23 May 2016, p. 9+.
General OneFile,
"The Education roadmap to 2030." Philippines Daily Inquirer [Makati City, Philippines], 31
Aug. 2016. Global Issues in Context,. Accessed 28 Nov. 2016.
Gambino, Lauren. "Trump and Syrian Refugees in the US: Separating the Facts from Fiction."
The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 02 Sept. 2016. Web. 09 Dec. 2016.
Peterson, Celia. "Syrian Refugee Women Take on Life in a Man's World." Al Jazeera English.
Aljazeera, 7 Mar. 2016. Web. 09 Dec. 2016.
"Raise Your Voice for Girls' Education - Girl Up." Girl Up. Girl Up Inc, UN, 22 Aug. 2016.
Web. 09 Dec. 2016.
Silberg, Jon. "The Light in Her Eyes: documenting a Syrian story of education and inspiration."
Digital Video Magazine, Aug. 2012, p. 32+. General OneFile, Accessed 28 Nov. 2016.
"Time is running out for Syrian refugee kids out of school." Executive [Middle East], 18 Aug.
2016. General OneFile,. Accessed 28 Nov. 2016.
"The Women's Rights Movement." American Social Reform Movements Reference Library,
edited by Carol Brennan, et al., vol. 2: Almanac, UXL, 2007, pp. 373-405. U.S. History
in Context,

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