Hidden survivors of sexual violence during Syria's war must not be left behind

Support for abused men, trans women and non-binary people is urgently needed

Yousef, a 28-year-old gay man, was raped by Syrian intelligence agents who had detained him for participating in protests during the conflict in Syria. He fled to Lebanon, but found only limited services to help him deal with the traumatic aftermath. By the time I interviewed him, he was resettled in the Netherlands. Geographically speaking, he was away from all the violence, but it still haunted him. I look behind me when I am walking," he told me. I still wake up at night. It [the trauma] is not over."

Yousef is one of dozens of sexual violence survivors from Syria whom I interviewed for Human Rights Watch. I found that since the beginning of the Syrian conflict men and boys - in addition to women and girls - have been subjected to sexual violence, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, by both government agents and non-government actors.