Christians Under Attack

beaten. The study was released last week as part of a report on Syria by the United Nations Development Fund for Women.

The findings have been published in local news media, helping to draw attention to topics like domestic abuse and honor killings that have long been considered taboo in this conservative society.

The study was carried out under the supervision of the quasi-governmental General Union of Women, which oversees the welfare of Syria's women. The study included nearly 1,900 families selected at random, including a broad range of income levels and all regions. The men and women in each family were questioned separately.

"In Syria there was simply no data on violence against women; formal studies hadn't ever been done before," said Shirin Shukri, a manager of the project at the United Nations regional office in Amman, Jordan. "The issue of violence against women was kept silent here for many years. But we're making people in Syria aware that this is something that happens everywhere — in Europe, in Asia, in the United States — and this is opening up discussion."

Hana Qaddoura, a spokeswoman for the General Union of Women, said that breaking the silence on domestic abuse was an essential first step to combating violence. Many Syrians, she said, do not believe that violence in the home "counts" as violence.

"There are some forms of violence against women that our society doesn't even see as violence," Ms. Qaddoura said. "It all depends very much on education and income level, but many people see a woman who is beaten as being in a bad relationship; they don't see her as a victim of violence."

The women's union said it would try to develop programs to protect women, in response to the study's findings.

Advocates of women's rights here say that though the findings of the Syrian study are fairly similar to domestic abuse statistics in other countries, the fact that the official silence on the subject has been broken is in itself a meaningful step.

"The most surprising thing is that for the first time in Syria, a semigovernmental organization, the women's union, has admitted that there is a problem," said Maan Abdul Salam, a campaigner for women's rights.

Bassam al-Kadi, a rights advocate, said the report was part of a growing openness about many forms of domestic abuse. He has been working on a public information campaign to curb the practice known as honor killings — the killing of women who are believed to have dishonored their families by engaging in illicit sex.

"Until two years ago, discussion of honor killing was banned in the Syrian media," Mr. Kadi said. "The incidents might be discussed individually, as 'accidents,' but talking about honor killing as a phenomenon was forbidden. Now these subjects are becoming much more open."

Women's advocates say that though any attempt to broaden discussion of domestic violence is welcome, they have seen little effort by the government to address the topic in practical terms. Shelters for battered women are few and poorly publicized, and there are no formal channels for abused women to seek assistance.

"As it is now, there are still no mechanisms to report violence against women," Mr. Abdul Salam said. "We hope that this study will soon lead to practical action on the ground