Syria

Although the civil war between Assad’s government and rebel groups has ended, violence persists and continues to endanger women and girls. Minority groups, including the Druze and the Alawites, face targeted harassment and violence. More than 1,500 people were killed in ethnically-motivated massacres over just three days in March 2025, while conflict between Druze, Bedouin, and government forces in Sweida province killed at least 1,400 people and displaced thousands in July. Survivors of violence struggle to access vital services, including healthcare, due to the decimation wrought by civil war. Over 100 health facilities in northwest Syria have also now closed due to insufficient funding, with up to 146 more projected to close imminently. Cuts to US foreign aid have halted investigations of war crimes allegedly committed in Assad-era detention centers. Many people detained under the Assad regime are still missing, with women spearheading efforts to find disappeared loved ones. Syria’s new constitution, enacted on March 13, 2025, outlines protections for the equal treatment of women, and Hind Kabawat was sworn in as the only female minister in the new government. 

As Syria’s transitional government takes shape, it is still unclear to what extent it will honor its promises to uphold women’s rights. Despite the government’s efforts to halt sectarian violence and ensure protections for minority groups, the threat of renewed clashes between various armed groups and reprisal attacks targeting ethnic minorities remains. Alawite women, for instance, have reportedly been kidnapped and abused due to their perceived association with the former regime, while violence against LGBTQ+ people has spiked. Meanwhile, accountability efforts have faltered; Syrian organizations such as the Nobel-nominated White Helmets depended on international funding to investigate Assad’s prison system and locate missing persons, but recent aid cuts now jeopardize this work. Without sustained support, both justice efforts and women’s rights protections risk stalling, leaving women to bear the heaviest burdens of Syria’s fragile transition.

Women continue to demand greater protections and participation after Syria’s first election on October 5, 2025 saw only seven women elected to parliament. Although there is a non-binding 20 percent quota, only 13 percent of contested seats went to women. Since one-third of parliamentary seats are direct presidential appointments, some observers expect that President al-Sharaa will appoint more women to hit that quota. A lack of proper representation for women in the Syrian government poses a risk to ensuring their voices are heard and having inclusive governance.

A recent report warns that Syria is facing one of the largest food security crises, with years of violence, displacement, economic instability and climate impacts expected to continue driving high levels of acute food insecurity. Food and water scarcity disproportionately impact women who tend to bear the responsibility of providing for their families. Reports have emerged of women being offered access to water in exchange for sex.

New testimonies of Syrian women document their abuse, and a recent survey finds that they continue to face severe psychological impact as a result of the decade-long conflict, in which women experienced widespread sexual and gender-based violence. Nearly two thirds of respondents reported that they feel anxious or afraid daily, yet almost half had not sought any form of mental healthcare due to social stigma and lack of resources.

Sectarian violence in Sweida province in July and August 2025 displaced thousands and put women and girls at risk of injury and death. Ongoing tensions and fragmentation between and within Druze and Bedouin communities may spark renewed conflict, which could leave women and girls vulnerable to further displacement, gender-based violence (GBV), and abduction.

Seven million people remain displaced in Syria, with increasing numbers of Syrians returning to the country in the past year. Shelters are becoming overcrowded, leaving women and girls vulnerable to an increased risk of sexual and gender-based violence, food insecurity, poor sanitation, and communicable disease.

An investigation by Syria’s Interior Ministry found that only one of 42 reports of missing Alawite women was a kidnapping, despite credible reports of dozens of abductions since the beginning of the year. The Syrian government’s stated findings drew criticism and allegations of deliberate obfuscations to protect perpetrators.

Syrian women are driving calls for survivor-centered recovery amid rising GBV. A new report found that Syrian women experienced a rise in GBV from 2024–2025 and that the interruption of humanitarian aid flows led to familial tensions that contributed to increased violence against girls. Local women are working to create a safer environment by focusing on parenting and raising their children to value equality, which they hope will shift cultural norms away from a patriarchal society.

On October 28, 2025, the Permanent Representative of Syria to the UN, Ibrahim Olabi, participated in an event titled “Our Path Toward Equality, Justice, and Democracy” in which Syrian women advocated for the protection and meaningful inclusion of women. A week prior, the UN deputy special envoy for Syria issued a call for local authorities to ensure women’s political participation in the Syrian government. While women’s civil society groups have remained invested in the political transition of the new government, they are still looking for permanent inclusive paths to governing.