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.

Syria’s emerging political order continues to reflect only limited inclusion of women in decision-making spaces. Women account for just 22 of the 210 members—roughly 10 percent—of the transitional People’s Assembly. Demonstrators in Aleppo took to the streets in early July 2026, under the slogan “Representation is Not Just Numbers”, calling for constitutional guarantees, meaningful participation, and an equal role in shaping Syria’s future institutions. The exclusion of women also extends to the security sector, as there are currently no women in Syria’s new defence ministry. Members of the all-female Kurdish Women’s Protection Unit (YPJ)—which played a critical role in combating ISIS—have reportedly been told there is no place for them in the military.

In what is the largest demonstrations since the fall of Bashar al-Assad, Syrians are protesting in response to the government’s plan to hike diesel prices. The unrest follows months of discontent over economic conditions which have improved only marginally since the transitional government took power, with roughly 90 percent of Syrians still living below the poverty line. Due to years of conflict and displacement, women have become the primary or only breadwinner in an estimated 1 in 3 Syrian households, yet face entrenched barriers to economic opportunity, leaving them particularly impacted by rising costs and persistent food insecurity.

Insecurity continues to shape daily life in Syria, with rights groups documenting the deaths of 276 women and children from conflict during the first half of 2026. Recent violence, including the July bombings in Damascus and renewed clashes in Sweida in September, have raised questions surrounding the transitional government’s ability to provide security. Regional tensions are also exacerbating insecurity: a September 2026 UN investigation found that Israel’s military activity in southern Syria may amount to violations of international humanitarian law and war crimes. For women and girls, persistent insecurity risks exacerbating existing vulnerabilities, including restricted mobility, heightened exposure to gender-based violence, and barriers to accessing essential services.

Displaced women and girls, including those who are internally displaced and those voluntarily or forcibly returned from other countries, continue to face significant protection risks across Syria. Inadequate housing, limited services, and unresolved legal barriers are undermining safe and sustainable reintegration. In particular, gaps in documentation and discriminatory legal practices and social norms pose a challenge for women and women-headed households returning to their homes and attempting to reclaim property. Meanwhile, women and girls in displacement camps, including Roj and Al-Hol, continue to experience abuse, exploitation, and deteriorating living conditions.

Funding shortfalls are forcing the UN World Food Programme to halve food assistance and suspend bread subsidy support in Syria, deepening an already severe hunger crisis. More than 13 million Syrians are acutely food insecure, with subsidy cuts and economic pressures deepening poverty and vulnerability. Women-headed households, displaced communities, and rural populations face heightened risks, as reduced food access may increase reliance on negative coping strategies, including early marriage, child labor, and transactional relationships.

Syria’s National Commission on Missing Persons has launched a national registry of missing and forcibly disappeared persons, offering an opportunity to advance survivor-centered transitional justice. This program builds on efforts by Syrian women to document disappearances and demand answers for missing family members. The registry could strengthen accountability mechanisms by preserving evidence and helping families determine the fate of their loved ones, while a new agreement between the National Commission for Transitional Justice and the Center for Victims of Torture aims to strengthen victim and survivor support. However, meaningful transitional justice will require accountability for both past and recent violations—including gender-based violence—and sustained participation and leadership by women survivors and civil society in justice processes.

Grassroots women-led communities are providing spaces for safety, solidarity, and economic resilience as the country rebuilds following years of conflict. In northeast Syria, communities such as Jinwar have supported women—particularly widows, survivors of violence, and those without traditional family support—through collective living arrangements, shared resources, and access to education, healthcare, and livelihoods.