LONDON: Casual ads for “affordable Syrian brides” have circulated on Iraqi social media in recent months, several perpetuating tropes about Syrian women with lines such as: “Marry a Syrian woman for $100 and enjoy delicious food and a cute dialect.” “
Controversial posts that have attracted local media attention are captioned as if they were advertising real estate. One reads: “You can hear To'borni (Syriac term of endearment) at home for just 500,000 dinars” — the equivalent of $380.
Men promoting the trend lament the exorbitant mahrs demanded by Iraqi women, which often range from $10,000 to $20,000, locals told Arab News. In addition, they say, Iraqi brides-to-be will also often demand property, expensive jewelry and cars.
Mahr is an obligatory gift in Muslim societies from the groom to his bride as a form of security and respect, often with legal significance in marriage contracts.
The sheer volume of online posts, especially on the video platform TikTok, suggests that this trend is real. Commenters expressed outrage at the posts, finding the rhetoric degrading to both Syrian and Iraqi women.
More than a decade of violence, displacement, economic hardship and insecurity have already destroyed the dignity of Syrian women. Now, in neighboring countries where they sought safety and economic security, they endure a form of commodification.
Many Syrian women, finding themselves the sole breadwinners of their families, have sought employment in neighboring states, including Iraq, as the economic situation in their home country worsens.
Faced with the harsh reality of being a single woman alone in a conservative society and in countries where the law provides limited protection, some have agreed to marry locals for modest fees, if any.
Sattam Jadaan Al-Dandah, the Syrian ambassador to Iraq, revealed in January that about 5,000 marriages between Syrian women and Iraqi men were documented in 2023 alone.
According to the United Nations Development Program's 2024 Gender Inequality Index, Iraq is the fifth worst country in the world for women and girls, despite many recent efforts to address gender inequality.
“Syrian women in countries like Iraq, where the law does not provide sufficient protection, often find themselves subjected to harassment, exploitation and even human trafficking,” Mouna Khaity, a UK-based Syrian feminist and researcher, told Arab News.
“The main reasons why Syrian women agree to such measures – many even seek them – in almost all neighboring host countries are the need for protection and the desire to escape a worsening economic situation.”
Thirteen years of conflict and economic sanctions have pushed 90 percent of the Syrian population below the poverty line and created a new social norm where families struggle to survive without female labor.
“Under relatively normal circumstances, women's and girls' communities and families would provide some level of protection, even if that sometimes means unwanted intervention or even control,” Khaity said.
The erosion of these protections due to displacement has made Syrian women and girls more vulnerable.
About 5.4 million Syrians live in five countries across the region — Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt — of whom more than 70 percent are women, according to UN figures.
“Women who need protection will accept a lower mahr compared to women who live under the protection of their families in their home countries,” Khaity said.
However, a woman's decision to marry for economic reasons “is often not a personal choice, but a collective family decision, with women – even girls – convinced that it is an opportunity for a better life.
“This is often seen in displacement camps, where women don't even have a choice, and marrying a local can be seen as a convenient way to transform from a charity recipient to a dignified and protected woman.”
In 2016, the Norwegian Refugee Council reported an alarming increase in the incidence of child marriage in Syrian refugee communities, where girls as young as 13 were being married.
A 2023 report by American Near East Refugee Aid, an NGO that addresses the needs of refugees and vulnerable communities in Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan, found that 41 percent of Syrian refugees aged 20 to 24 in Lebanon were married before the age of 18 .
Emphasizing that the situation was created by “layers of discrimination and injustice”, Khaity said the blame for such marriages should not be placed solely on individuals or families, but on “whole systems” that have normalized the exploitation of Syrian women due to a lack of accountability.
“Neighboring countries are not trying to integrate Syrian refugees who are excluded by local communities and exploited by politicians for economic benefits,” she said.
Deep-rooted gender-based economic inequalities have long disadvantaged women, and the war has only widened this gap, even as the share of female earners has increased.
“Societies in the Middle East have historically accumulated wealth in the hands of men, forcing women to be largely dependent on men,” Khaity said, adding that this was achieved through “political systems, social norms and religious institutions.”
“Obedience to husbands was often associated with men's financial superiority and dominance, and subsequently with women's reliance on them. There are financial resources that women do not have access to.'
She added: “The war has deepened inequalities, impoverished the majority of the population, increased the vulnerability of women and displaced millions – all of which have devastated Syrian society.
“Therefore, many Syrian women sought marriages with locals in host countries as a means of protecting themselves and often their families from all kinds of humiliation – especially in societies that showed hostility towards them.”
Since the outbreak of civil war in 2011, which forced millions to flee abroad, Syrians in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan have faced repeated waves of violence and threats of deportation.
Douna Haj Ahmed, a UK-based Syrian human rights activist, believes this new status quo has “created a form of modern slavery where Syrian women are commodified and trafficked under the guise of marriage”.
She told Arab News that arranged marriages promoted on Iraqi social media “reduce women to mere objects for sale”, calling the phenomenon “a stark reminder of how conflict and poverty can lead to the revival of exploitative systems similar to slavery”.
She added: “Such exploitation is not only unethical but deeply inhumane. Marriage should be based on mutual respect and genuine affection, not on exploiting the needs of the more vulnerable party.”
Thirteen years of conflict and displacement have put Syrian women in a “class of their own,” Khaity said. “There is a tolerance for the dehumanization of Syrian women who are now seen as women who have fewer rights.”
Both activists also believe that Syrian women have been commodified by deceptive television dramas. Iraqi TikTok posts promoting marriage to Syrian women even include clips from controversial Syrian programs that depict Damascene women as part of a docile, attentive harem.
Khaity says the dramatic genre known in Syria as “Al-Bi'a Al-Shamiyeh” – or Damascene culture – promoted a “false, historically inaccurate and unjust image of Syrian women and their role in society”.
Since the 1990s, numerous Syrian dramas have portrayed Damascene women as stunning beauties with an innate talent for cooking, housekeeping, and seduction. They run around tending to their husbands' needs, rubbing their feet, showering them with affection and even hand-feeding them.
The popularity of Syrian drama series in the Arabic-speaking world has played a significant role in creating and reinforcing these harmful stereotypes.
“For decades, Syrian drama has maintained the image of the Syrian woman as an obedient servant to her husband, whose life revolves around meeting his needs by cooking and cleaning during the day and pampering and pleasing her at night,” said Haj Ahmed.
“This negative portrayal reinforced outdated and misleading ideas about women's roles in Syrian society.”
Haj Ahmed said that amid harsh economic conditions, “many young men in Arab countries saw the war in Syria as an opportunity to fulfill their unhealthy desires for marriage.
“They have taken advantage of the vulnerability of Syrian girls caused by war and poverty, forcing some Syrian families to make hard compromises and accept any suitor for their daughters in a desperate attempt to ease the family's financial burden.
She added that the social media trend promoting Syrian brides for $100 “goes beyond discrimination and hate speech” to “reflect a patriarchal mentality that objectifies women, especially in times of war and disaster.”
“This story confirms that women are among the first to suffer in such situations. What Syrian women are experiencing is a recurring scenario for women in all conflict zones.
