Comparison of Reported Deaths in SyriaTracker by Gender: Data from Mar 11, 2011 through Sept 4, 2012

Description

Comparison of Reported Deaths in SyriaTracker by Gender

Data from Mar 11, 2011 through Sept 4, 2012

Syria Tracker is a crowdsourcing effort that has collected reported deaths of civilian and army defectors in Syria with the help of SyrianMartyrs شهداء الثورة السورية and Women Under Siege.  The data collected by Syria Tracker not only covers the dates and locations of each death, but also gender.  In this report, we are presenting an initial analysis of deaths by gender.  While the predominate number of casualties have been male, there has been a good deal of variation in female death rates based on the nature of the unrest and the amount of attacking civilian areas.  Note that the data for September 2012 only reflect the first four days of the month.



Month

Male Deaths

Female Deaths

% Female Deaths


Mar-11

120

1

0.83%


Apr-11

712

15

2.06%


May-11

523

39

6.94%


Jun-11

520

9

1.70%


Jul-11

427

16

3.61%


Aug-11

635

58

8.37%


Sep-11

496

25

4.80%


Oct-11

539

35

6.10%


Nov-11

777

33

4.07%


Dec-11

1060

59

5.27%


Jan-12

1124

65

5.47%


Feb-12

2349

241

9.31%


 Mar-12

2179

189

7.98%


Apr-12

1838

152

7.64%


May-12

1289

154

10.67%


Jun-12

2427

266

9.88%


Jul-12

3980

402

9.17%


Aug-12

5810

634

9.84%


Sep-12

721

53

6.85%


Grand Total

27526

2446

8.16%




Monthly Breakdown of Deaths by Gender in Syria

March 18, 2011 through September 4, 2012 – Source: Syria Tracker




After a notable spike in August 2011, the relative amounts of female deaths have remained elevated since February 2012 (renewed attack on Homs), and have remained elevated despite the UN Ceasefire. Despite the increased action of the Free Syrian Army in recent months, it is somewhat surprising that female deaths are remaining at these levels.   Unfortunately this means that, despite the Syrian government’s claims that “terrorists” are being targeted, many civilians are still being killed.  A graphic breakdown of deaths by month and gender is shown below. 






 Stacked Representation of Monthly Deaths by Gender in Syria

March 18, 2011 through September 4, 2012 – Source: Syria Tracker

We have also analyzed the relative percentage of reported female deaths by governate (the 13 provinces of Syria, as well as the city of Damascus) for this time period, the results are shown below.  If we consider the provinces where there were more than 100 reported deaths and a rate of 7.5% or higher in female deaths, the Governates of Homs, Hama, Aleppo and Dayr Az Zor have the highest reported rates. We have also included the female population from the 2004 Syrian Census (the latest available), and compared the number of reported deaths to the 2004 female population to get a feel for which areas would provide a high level of risk for female fatalities.  From this perspective Homs had by far the highest rate of female deaths, with Idleb, Dayr Az Zour, and Dara forming the next level of intensity.  From both perspectives, Homs ranks as a region where deaths of women are more likely, and this unfortunately corresponds to the data form Women Under Siege that shows higher degrees of sexual assaults in homes and assaults perpetrated by the Shabiha.





Governate

Male Deaths

Female Deaths

% Female Deaths

2004 Fem Pop

Deaths Per 100 K


Al_Qunaytirah/القنيطرة

51

3

5.56%

32588

9.206


Aleppo/حلب

2309

223

8.81%

1954486

11.410


As_Suweida/السويداء

13

0

0.00%

157436

0.000


City_Damascus/دمشق

1361

62

4.36%

755949

8.202


Damascus/ريف دمشق

4989

337

6.33%

1101328

30.599


Dara/درعا

2698

220

7.54%

412934

53.277


Dayr_Az_Zor/دير الزور

1650

217

11.62%

490822

44.212


Hama/حماة

2687

238

8.14%

673332

35.347


Hassakeh/الحسكة

94

0

0.00%

628150

0.000


Homs/حمص

6975

786

10.13%

742988

105.789


Idleb/إدلب

4037

319

7.32%

612491

52.082


Lattakia/اللاذقية

506

32

5.95%

431768

7.411


Raqqa/الرقة

86

2

2.27%

386380

0.518


Tartous/طرطوس

70

7

9.09%

343294

2.039


Grand Totals

27526

2446

8.16%

8723946

28.038



Breakdown of Deaths by Governate and Gender in Syria

March 18, 2011 through September 4, 2012 – Source: Syria Tracker




A graphic representation of the reported female deaths per each 100,000 of the female population as indicated in the 2004 census is illustrated below. 












Geospatial Graph of Reported Female Deaths in Syria Per 100K of 2004 Female Population

March 18, 2011 through September 4, 2012 – Source: Syria Tracker