Syria
Background of the conflict and use of sexual violence
Since the Arab Spring uprising in 2011, Syria has endured a devastating civil war that has drawn in numerous state and non-state actors. Throughout the conflict, conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) has impacted nearly all segments of Syrian society. Survivors include women, men, girls, boys, and LGBTQ+ persons from diverse regions and backgrounds. While women and girls have been disproportionately affected, men and boys, especially in detention, have also suffered sexual violence.
Nearly all conflict parties have committed CRSV, although the Assad regime, ousted in December 2024, is responsible for the majority of these crimes. Widespread and systematic sexual violence by the Assad regime was documented as early as 2011 by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria. This violence was committed in house raids, at checkpoints, and within detention facilities. In detention, survivors – including children as young as nine – were subjected to rape (including gang rape and rape with objects), sexual torture (often targeting genitalia through beatings or electrocution), forced nudity, intimate searches, and forced witnessing of rape. Women and girls were especially vulnerable during raids and while attempting to locate or visit detained or disappeared relatives, where they were exposed to threats of rape, sexual extortion, and degrading treatment
Non-state armed groups, including factions of the Free Syrian Army, the Syrian Democratic Forces, and the Syrian National Army, have also perpetrated sexual violence. Though not committed systematically or under a coordinated policy, these acts often carried elements of exploitation, sectarian targeting, and revenge. These groups also operated detention centres where sexual violence against men, women, and children occurred. Outside detention, some non-state actors imposed forced marriages on girls, particularly those underage.
In addition to these abuses, women who are released from detention often face deep stigma and rejection by their families and communities. In Syrian society, particularly in conservative communities, women who have suffered sexual violence are frequently seen as disgracing their families and wider community. Many of them have been divorced following their detention, while others have gone into exile to escape retaliations, including ‘honour crimes’, from family members and the community.
Terrorist organisations such as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL also known ISIS) and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham committed egregious forms of sexual violence, including sexual slavery, forced marriage, and rape in detention. Their actions were often ideologically driven and disproportionately targeted ethnic and religious minorities, particularly Yazidis. These crimes have been recognised as constituting elements of genocide.
Response and Support to Survivors
Survivors and their families strongly request a central position in discussions about their rights and any decisions affecting them, including discussions relating to conflict resolution. To have a voice of their own, multiple associations for survivors and families of the missing and the disappeared have emerged. These associations strive to shape the narrative on the Syrian conflict, including by highlighting the importance of survivor-centric perspectives on accountability, political processes and reparations.
On 10 February 2021, five associations for victims (including missing persons and those still in detention), survivors and families of the missing launched the Truth and Justice Charter that represents their common vision on questions of enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention and related crimes, including sexual violence. Key demands set out in the Charter include the halting of arbitrary detention and violations against detainees, including sexual violence, and the immediate release of those arbitrarily detained or disappeared; as well as reparations by the State (Syria) and international entities, including restitution of rights, rehabilitation, and compensation for material and moral damages. Emphasis is placed on co-creating any reparation programmes with victims and survivors.
Associations of victims, survivors and their families are also key in highlighting the needs of survivors and, at times, responding to them. For instance, the Association of the Detainees and the Missing in Sednaya Prison (ADMSP) provides individual and group counselling to victims of the conflict. ADMSP was co-founded by a SEMA member, Riyad Avlar, who was detained in the Sednaya military prison in Syria for 21 years.
The Association of the Detainees and the Missing in Sednaya Prison (ADMSP)
Sednaya Prison, located north of Syria’s capital, Damascus, was established in the early 1980s and has long been used to detain opponents of the Assad regime. Since the 2011 uprising, it has become widely known as the country’s main political prison, notorious for the systematic use of torture and extreme violence against detainees.
ADMSP was established in 2017 by a coalition of Sednaya survivors, victims, and their families. The organisation works closely with survivors, their families, and local partners to improve access to reparations for Syrian survivors of detention and conflict-related sexual violence, particularly those residing in southern Türkiye. More recently, ADMSP has also begun providing support inside Syria. In partnership with the Mukwege Foundation, it offers mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) to survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, children, and the families of the missing, both within Syria and across the border.
Website: https://www.admsp.org/en/