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A/HRC/37/72/CRP.1 5 challenges to documenting such violations include the reduction in flow of refugees able to leave the Syrian Arab Republic, thereby reducing the access to potential survivors of sexual and gender-based violence. 6. Consequences for female survivors of sexual violence range from the very real threats of divorce and excommunication from one’s family, to honour killings, particularly in more conservative areas. For unmarried women and girls, the prospects of a future marriage can be ruined. Many survivors – female and male – also remain in denial, unable to safely access treatment and mental health services even if they are available. In extreme cases, female survivors describe suicidal feelings with some eventually taking their own lives. Male victims also suffer long-term physical and mental health issues including depression, many times compounded by an inability to admit to others what they experienced, in large part out of fear that perceived loss of masculinity would prevent them from fulfilling traditional gender roles. II. Government and associated militias My home was invaded in December . . . One security officer told me to go to my room and he followed me in. He began insulting me and telling me he would “do me” and that I would “never be clean again.” I screamed, but no one came. Female rape survivor, Dara’a, 2012 The officer took two girls, held their faces down on the desk, and raped them in turn. The girls tried to resist but there was nothing they could do. The officer then told me “you see what I am doing to them, I will do this to your wife and daughter.” Male detainee, Damascus Political Security Branch, 2014 7. Reported incidents of sexual and gender-based violence by Government forces, primarily during detention and, on occasion, house raids pre-date the mandate of the Commission. Since March 2011, the increased intensity of military operations resulted in greater interactions between Government forces and the population including those suspected of being members of the opposition and, consequently, more opportunity for sexual and gender-based violations to occur. 8. During the earlier stages of the conflict, ground operations and house raids gave a greater range of scenarios for violations to occur. As armed groups proliferated and acquired heavy weaponry, Government forces began to prioritise the use of airstrikes, thus decreasing the interaction between Government troops and the wider population. As the conflict progressed, most sexual and gender-based violations by Government forces therefore occurred at checkpoints or in detention. When the number of former detainees crossing into neighbouring countries decreased, so did the opportunity to establish a comprehensive picture of sexual and gender-based violations occurring in Government detention in 2016 and 2017. In addition, persons in areas re-taken by Government forces, often utilising Shi’a militias, remain reluctant to discuss events occurring in these areas due to fear of reprisals. A. Rape and sexual violence during ground operations 9. Almost immediately after anti-Government protests erupted in March 2011, Syrian authorities initiated a campaign of mass arrests to quell demonstrations. Large numbers of arrests continued until 2014 (see A/HRC/31/CRP.1, para. 18) with some detainees being held for years. As part of the campaign, the Syrian army and security forces conducted house-to-house searches for persons they considered as wanted, which were mostly carried out at night and at dawn. Initially, searches were conducted to arrest protestors and, from mid-2011 onwards, broadened to include suspected members of the newly-formed Free Syrian Army (FSA)