The witnesses talked about the consequences they suffered due to the early marriage. Hala says “At the beginning of my marriage, I faced many problems in dealing with my husband’s family. I had not a life experience and I did not how to deal with my husband and his family”. “I was afraid of pregnancy and giving birth as I heard a lot from the family women about this experience. My mother remained at my side and guided me how to deal with all these details, including giving birth to the first child after two years of my marriage”, she said.
The most prominent challenges faced by Mona is raising her children. She talks about some details starting from her engagement: “Since the very beginning, I did not feel comfortable and I felt that we do not share a lot in ways of thinking. He always says that the woman’s place is her house, and she must not get along with neighbors all the time. He was holding me responsible if he comes back home and he did not find everything is ready. I was silent in front of his behavior and feedback in order to avoid any disturbance”.
Shoukran decided to separate from her husband following a year and half of marriage. “During my marriage period, I suffered from a grave stress due to the disputes with my husband, his first wife, and his children.
“As a result of disagreements with his wife, my husband beat me even though he knew I was pregnant, and I aborted the baby the next day as a result.”
The family of Shoukran’s did not allow her to work after her divorce. “our society treats the divorced as guilty, without any appreciation of what she went through before she made this decision. I thought I would be free after the divorce and I would be able to continue my education and make my own decisions, but what happened was that everyone stood up to me so that I could no longer express my opinion regarding any issue”.
“On the first day we were together for the first time, he was violent with me, and he repeated it. I was crying and he didn’t care about me. I told my mother, who advised me to be patient. His sexual violence increased after we moved to Turkey. He only cared about my body. I got pregnant with my first child and the pregnancy increased my physical and psychological fatigue. I asked my brother help, who insisted not to go back to him. I tried to break up with him, but that would have taken time, but we went back to Syria and my brother’ wife helped me through the birth.”, Noura says.
Ayda is the third wife of her husband. After a period of her marriage, her husband married for the fourth time. “My husband got sick and became no longer able to have children. I asked him to see a doctor, but he refused and said that he did not want children and was not ready to take responsibility again. He did not take into account my desire and right to have children”.
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