A small statue in Zico House, a multi-use art space in Beirut, shows a female figure on a chair whose body is convulsed in its desire to scream out her pain. It depicts Leila, one of the Syrian women whose stories have inspired a marriage of forms and words in a storytelling event organized by the Syrian Female Journalists Network (SFJN) in Beirut on May 10.

The small clay statues belong to Syrian artist Oula Haidar, whose female figures reflect the stories of Syrian women that are collected in a book titled “Out of the Shadows.” The focal point of the event at Zico House is to give Syrian women a voice in narrating their lives and struggles, and to create awareness of sexual violence.

The book is based on the interviews with many women in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan as part of the Female Storytellers Project. SFJN — a nonprofit organization established four years ago that works with more than 70 journalists based in different countries — aims to build bridges between the media and Syrian women to enhance and empower both men and women working in the field of media.

“We wanted to change the image of women and challenge the way gender and equality issues are addressed in the media,” Milia Eidmouni, a Syrian journalist who is the co-founder and regional director of SFJN, told Al-Monitor. “We only see women as victims — poor and uneducated. The coverage of success stories is rare. Our main goal is to link Syrian journalists with women who could speak to them, give them advice and train them on gender perception while covering the news.”