Women in Syria, Women and the Freedom of Peoples in the Crosshairs
January22,2026
We are following the massacres targeting civilians, women and children in Syria with great anger and deep concern. As we, as the Women’s Platform for Equality, Türkiye (EŞİK), have emphasized in many of our statements and meetings over the years, the wars produced by patriarchal, militarist, imperialist powers hit women and poor people first and hardest. Since 6 March 2025 in Syria, massacres targeting Alawites, particularly in Aleppo and Latakia, and the ensuing climate of fear perpetrated by ISIS and militants affiliated with the currently ruling HTŞ, have continued. It is known that thousands of people have been killed in these massacres and that many Alawite women have been abducted and subjected to sexual violence. Attacks against Druze and Christians also highlight the insecurity in Syria, our next-door neighbor.
Today, the latest of these heavy attacks is directed at civilians living in Rojava. ISIS/HTŞ/regime forces deployed there are directly targeting civilians. Once again, it is mainly women and children who are bearing the disproportionate burden. As was the case in Aleppo and Latakia before, today, thousands of people are being forced to flee, displaced by insecurity and fear. ISIS, which sold Yazidi women in slave markets and seeks to enslave all women, attacks Kurdish women resistance fighters who fought against it, cutting their hair to humiliate them and demonstrate power over their bodies.
Today's attacks on Rojava are no coincidence. Rojava is a women's revolution where women have equal representation, a voice, and decision-making power, and are building an alternative life against male domination. This model, in which women are at the forefront of self-defence, governance, and every aspect of social life, is a clear threat to male-dominated, militarist, and reactionary forces. Therefore, the target in Rojava is not only civilians, but the vision of an egalitarian and secular social future based on women's freedom.
As feminist women, we know that war is male violence. Borders are tools of male domination. Peace is not possible without a process in which women have a say and decision-making power. United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 emphasises the protection of women in armed conflicts and the active role of women in peace processes.
We know that governments, particularly the members of the UN Security Council – of which the world's largest arms exporting countries are permanent members – that send troops and weapons to conflict zones, and which shake hands with militants responsible for attacks, invasions, and war crimes yesterday and/or today, are responsible for all war casualties and humanitarian crises. Aware that governments and companies profiting from war, along with male-dominated institutions seeking to control nature, society, women, LGBTI+ individuals, and all those deemed "other," do not desire peace in the world;
We reiterate that we will never give up on our joint struggle to build a lasting, sustainable peace and on our right to a life free from war and violence.
We reiterate our call: The struggle of all women and peoples subjected to state/male violence and rights violations in Syria is part of the feminist struggle around the world.
Attacks against civilians, especially women and children, must be considered a grave violation of international humanitarian law.
We call on all international institutions, foremost among them the United Nations, the CEDAW Committee, and international human rights mechanisms, to take immediate action against the war crimes committed in Syria and the grave human rights violations against women.
We will continue to expand our solidarity with women as a boundless struggle against this crime against humanity perpetrated against all ethnic and religious minorities, including Kurds, Alevis, Druze, Yazidis, and Christians.
The common struggle of women around the world against war, armament, nationalism, racism, sexism, and militarism will continue. We will never give up this struggle to build a lasting and sustainable peace together. We will fight together around the world for our right to a life free from war and violence.
We will continue to defend equality, secularism, life, peace, and women's freedom against every policy that produces, perpetuates, and leaves unpunished violence.
Women in Syria, Women and the Freedom of Peoples in the Crosshairs
We are following the massacres targeting civilians, women and children in Syria with great anger and deep concern. As we, as the Women’s Platform for Equality, Türkiye (EŞİK), have emphasized in many of our statements and meetings over the years, the wars produced by patriarchal, militarist, imperialist powers hit women and poor people first and hardest. Since 6 March 2025 in Syria, massacres targeting Alawites, particularly in Aleppo and Latakia, and the ensuing climate of fear perpetrated by ISIS and militants affiliated with the currently ruling HTŞ, have continued. It is known that thousands of people have been killed in these massacres and that many Alawite women have been abducted and subjected to sexual violence. Attacks against Druze and Christians also highlight the insecurity in Syria, our next-door neighbor.
Today, the latest of these heavy attacks is directed at civilians living in Rojava. ISIS/HTŞ/regime forces deployed there are directly targeting civilians. Once again, it is mainly women and children who are bearing the disproportionate burden. As was the case in Aleppo and Latakia before, today, thousands of people are being forced to flee, displaced by insecurity and fear. ISIS, which sold Yazidi women in slave markets and seeks to enslave all women, attacks Kurdish women resistance fighters who fought against it, cutting their hair to humiliate them and demonstrate power over their bodies.
Today's attacks on Rojava are no coincidence. Rojava is a women's revolution where women have equal representation, a voice, and decision-making power, and are building an alternative life against male domination. This model, in which women are at the forefront of self-defence, governance, and every aspect of social life, is a clear threat to male-dominated, militarist, and reactionary forces. Therefore, the target in Rojava is not only civilians, but the vision of an egalitarian and secular social future based on women's freedom.
As feminist women, we know that war is male violence. Borders are tools of male domination. Peace is not possible without a process in which women have a say and decision-making power. United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 emphasises the protection of women in armed conflicts and the active role of women in peace processes.
We know that governments, particularly the members of the UN Security Council – of which the world's largest arms exporting countries are permanent members – that send troops and weapons to conflict zones, and which shake hands with militants responsible for attacks, invasions, and war crimes yesterday and/or today, are responsible for all war casualties and humanitarian crises. Aware that governments and companies profiting from war, along with male-dominated institutions seeking to control nature, society, women, LGBTI+ individuals, and all those deemed "other," do not desire peace in the world;
We reiterate that we will never give up on our joint struggle to build a lasting, sustainable peace and on our right to a life free from war and violence.
We reiterate our call: The struggle of all women and peoples subjected to state/male violence and rights violations in Syria is part of the feminist struggle around the world.
Attacks against civilians, especially women and children, must be considered a grave violation of international humanitarian law.
We call on all international institutions, foremost among them the United Nations, the CEDAW Committee, and international human rights mechanisms, to take immediate action against the war crimes committed in Syria and the grave human rights violations against women.
We will continue to expand our solidarity with women as a boundless struggle against this crime against humanity perpetrated against all ethnic and religious minorities, including Kurds, Alevis, Druze, Yazidis, and Christians.
The common struggle of women around the world against war, armament, nationalism, racism, sexism, and militarism will continue. We will never give up this struggle to build a lasting and sustainable peace together. We will fight together around the world for our right to a life free from war and violence.
We will continue to defend equality, secularism, life, peace, and women's freedom against every policy that produces, perpetuates, and leaves unpunished violence.
22 January 2026
The Women’s Platform for Equality, Türkiye
www.esik.org.tr/ iletisim@esikplatform.net