Syrian Activists Voice Alarm Over the Future of Women’s Rights Under HTS

The dramatic ousting of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad by Hayet Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) fighters in early December 2024, followed by the swift appointment of a nearly all-male caretaker government on December 9, 2024, has left women’s groups concerned about the future of their political participation in the new Syria.

In a press conference immediately following the formation of Syria’s transition cabinet, representatives of the Syrian Women’s Political Movement (SWPM) emphasized that there can be no political life without women.

 “[SWPM] stresses the necessity of women’s effective presence at the decision-making table to ensure genuine representation of their needs, interests and aspirations and to ensure gender equality,” Rawiya Al-Shammar, member of SWPM secretariat, told More to Her Story.

The group emphasized that the country’s new government must adhere to United Nations (UN) Resolution 1325 and Resolution 225, which call for women’s full and equal participation in conflict resolution, peacebuilding, peacekeeping, humanitarian response, post-conflict reconstruction, and the UN-facilitated political process in Syria.

SWPM rejected the current transitional government and called for a National Conference in Damascus to better provide a platform for men and women to engage in dialogue for the re-construction of their future state based on an ethos of inclusion and participation for all. 

Under Assad, whose family ruled over Syria for five decades, only three women served as ministers during his tenure out of 28. World Bank Data reveals that in 2023, just over 10 percent of seats in the national parliament were held by women — lower than the average percentage among other low-income economies. While supporters of the Assad regime say that women were fairly represented and empowered, those critical of the regime say that women were merely token representatives.

In a December 16, 2024, interview with the BBC, Ahmed Al-Sharaa (also known as Abu Mohamed Al-Jolani) emphatically distanced his organization from extremist governance models, promising that Syria would not become "another Afghanistan," particularly when it comes to women’s education, citing the fact that in Idlib province, where HTS ruled for over a decade, almost 60 percent of higher education graduates were women.  

Days later, on December, 22, 2024, the transitional government appointed Aisha al-Dibs as head of the Women’s Affairs Office, becoming the first woman to hold a ministerial position in the new Syrian administration. Al-Dibs said that the government was committed to engaging Syrian women in social, cultural, and political institutions and was keen on recruiting qualified women in healthcare and education sectors. She further pledged to launch a comprehensive plan for the welfare of thousands of female prisoners who suffered under the ousted regime.

She also encouraged women from all Syrian provinces and ethnicities to participate in a national conference this week to discuss the future of the country. 

On December 30, 2024, HTS appointed Maysaa Sabrine, the former deputy governor of the Syrian central bank to lead the institution as the first woman ever to do so. 

Yet fear among women’s rights advocates abounds regarding the imposition of a dress code and the segregation of sexes in public institutions.

Mariam Al-Asa’ad, an employee at Homs governorate’s Justice Palace, says that senior officials affiliated with HTS have given verbal directives to remove female judges from office, an action under the sole mandate of Syria’s High Judicial Council. Al-Asa’ad also told More to Her Story that Sheikh Hassan Al-Aqra, a religious figure with no legal training, was put in charge of the Justice Palace.

Al-Asa’ad recounts that in the first meeting Al-Aqra convened with all the Justice Palace employees, including judges, lawyers, and clerks, head coverings required for all women regardless of their religious practice and were directed to sit in a separate row from men. 

Zahera Bashmani, who was head of the al-Assad regime’s counter terrorism court, which Assad critics say was used by the regime to criminalize public dissent, told More to Her Story she believes that “Islamic Sharia, not the constitution” will be applied under the new leadership. 

Women in other government institutions have also observed the sudden shift in values and expectations.

Lubna Al-Ali, an employee at the Ministry of Education in Damascus, told More to Her Story that the newly-appointed interim minister said that all women must wear hijab, while Hashem Al-Shaheen, who works at the Homs Oil Refinery, says that there are now separate entrances for men and women. 

In late December 2024, hundreds of women gathered in Damascus’ Ummayad Square to demand equality and civilian rule with slogans like “Free Syrian Woman, Equals Free Syria” and “One Woman's Support Equals a Thousand Men.”

24-year-old doctor is fearful of what she says are violations against women and religious minorities. 

“[The transition government’s new mandates on women] has made us involuntarily compare HTS with the ousted regime,” she told More to Her Story. “We openly see the separation of women and men, and the desecration of religious symbols and abuse of Christians and Alawites.”

TV anchor and legal advisor Ahmed Tarek Qalaji says that rhetoric by HTS spokesman Obeida Arnaout about women’s “biological composition” being an obstacle to their participation in certain fields is discriminatory.

“The new Syria must abide by international law and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to prohibit discrimination between people based on gender and to guarantee equality between women and men in rights and duties,” Qalaji told More to Her Story. “We must also abide by Islamic law that has allowed women to participate in political life and even fight alongside men since the time of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.”

Sima Barro, director for women’s affairs at the Nour Center for Relief and Development says that the biggest challenge is in supporting women and empowering them economically.

“Limiting women's activity and excluding them from certain professions will contradict the current transitional government's stated policies,” Barro told More to Her Story, adding that it would be a form of discrimination particularly against divorced or widowed women who need to work to support their children.