Following the fall of the Assad regime on December 8, 2024, Syrians entered a sensitive transitional phase aimed at rebuilding Syria anew after that authoritarian era, which lasted for 54 years. This phase is seen as an opportunity to establish the principles of democracy and inclusive, comprehensive justice within the legal framework of a new political system that enjoys popular legitimacy, far removed from the foundations of the former regime, so that Syrian women may play an active role in the early transitional phase, including the transitional governing body and the drafting of the new Syrian constitution.
The Reality of Syrian Women
Women have always represented, and still represent, the lowest share when it comes to the genuine representation of their roles across all levels in Syria, something that has weakened their ability to express their presence in the optimal way and directly on Syrian soil. But with the toppling of the Assad regime and the entry into the first and most difficult transitional phase, which requires confronting the enormous challenges, there must be a comprehensive and clear transition plan, embodied in a transitional governing body, a caretaker government, a constitutional declaration, an inclusive national conference, the drafting of a new constitution, and the holding of elections without excluding any party, particularly women.
Sabiha Khalil, a feminist politician, says: “Although Syrian women secured the right to political participation through voting decades ago, in 1949, that is before Switzerland and Greece, and then the right to run for office in the 1950s, the suspension of the constitution under the Emergency Law, along with the discriminatory Personal Status Law, was a real obstacle to gender equality. Feminist organizations emerged to remove these obstacles, which affect the roles women play in both the public and private spheres. The Assad regime favored conservative, even hardline, currents by maintaining laws that permitted violence and legalized discrimination against women.”
For her part, Syrian lawyer Kali Bakindi tells Silat Wassel: “The Emergency Law, which was issued in the 1960s in tandem with the Baath Party revolution to address specific circumstances and matters, in turn granted women some rights through this law, but to a very limited degree, especially regarding matters of personal status that fall under the Syrian constitution, particularly those provisions related to their activities, thinking, and political affiliations, which undermined their effectiveness within state positions.”
Given that the Emergency Law is applied to extremist thought, or any thought opposed to state policy, or in connection with one state’s hostility toward another, we observed that, under it, women’s political participation and activity were banned, according to Kali Bakindi.
Kali explains to Silat Wassel: “The provision specific to women within the Personal Status Law is derived from Islamic law, especially with regard to sensitive positions such as judges, the presidency of the republic, and the council of ministers. These positions are sensitive and could directly affect the principal role of women, which is confined to the home, children, and the husband, and that is why the constitution prevented them from reaching these positions.”
The Role of Women and Feminist Movements
Sabiha continues, on the role and presence of women, particularly after 2011 and the outbreak of a comprehensive revolution against the authoritarian regime: “Avenues of informal participation opened up for Syrian women. Over the course of fourteen years, Syrian women organized themselves into numerous feminist organizations that set their priorities on political and social change. Yet this did not contribute much to their presence in Syrian decision-making centers, especially since Syrian decision-making moved from the hands of policymakers to the hands of those carrying guns, that is, the decision shifted entirely toward the military actors on the ground. Currently, there are ambiguous international positions on the question of political transition under international supervision that would guarantee multilateral participation without excluding any Syrian political party, and a substantial participation by women, the adoption of a 30% quota, leading up to parity.”
“The Syrian feminist movements are working to embed their rights in the constitution of Syria’s future on the basis of full equality in rights and duties without discrimination on the grounds of religion, ethnicity, or sex, and they call for abolishing the discriminatory Personal Status Law and replacing it with a modern family law based on the principle of equality and non-discrimination. The priority now is for women to be present in all the committees and bodies that shape the future of a pluralistic, democratic Syria that accepts the peaceful rotation of power in accordance with the principle of separation of powers,” according to Sabiha Khalil.
The Challenges
There are challenges that impede women’s participation in drafting the new Syrian constitution and in the national conference scheduled to be held during this sensitive phase. “The most important of these is the existence of currents that oppose women’s work and their presence in leadership and sensitive positions in an official capacity, and during the transitional phase, in my view, there will not be a broad role for their serious and genuine participation; rather, they will be present in drafting the constitution in the coming phase and not in the transitional phase,” according to political analyst Ahmed Hamish.
Ahmed affirmed that there are no barriers or obstacles impeding women’s work in Syrian society wherever it may be, especially in sensitive positions, and the best evidence of this is the presence of women in several political parties and currents and social organizations in Syria.
For her part, Shams Antar, a writer and feminist activist residing in the city of Qamishlo in northeastern Syria, explains: “The obstacles still loom before involving and engaging women in drafting the constitution, and perhaps today the fear of exclusion looms with the presence of a leadership that wants Islamic law to be the sole source of the constitution, whereas all religions favor keeping women in the home only, and consequently the absence of their role in public affairs.”
Shams adds to those obstacles the dismal economic situation and substandard education, accompanied by complete ignorance of women’s role in various walks of life, including the constitutional and political, in addition to a total absence of awareness of their rights, the traditional nature of society, as well as the media that stereotypes the role of women.”
The Legal and Constitutional Framework
Dr. Zozan Mohammed, who holds a doctorate in law, says, regarding the legal framework for Syrian women’s participation in the new Syria through the drafting of the new constitution, by way of the transitional governing body and the national conference: “The new Syrian constitution must guarantee women’s equality with men in all fields, especially political participation, through clear texts that do not allow for misinterpretation,” adding: “It is preferable to add a special chapter to the constitution that focuses on women’s rights and guarantees their effective participation in politics and decision-making.”
Zozan points out that the new Syrian constitution must rely on the international conventions that guarantee women’s rights, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and the implementation of United Nations resolutions such as Resolution 1325, which affirms the importance of women’s role in peace processes and decision-making after conflicts.
Zozan adds: “The transitional governing body is responsible for establishing the temporary framework for governing Syria during the transition period, which means it is essential to include women in this body, and this can be achieved by allocating a specific percentage for women’s representation in the main committees.”
“Issuing temporary laws that guarantee women are not excluded from political negotiations or from drafting laws and the constitution, and launching political empowerment programs for women in cooperation with international and local organizations,” according to Zozan Mohammed.
Zozan affirms, regarding the role of the national conference, that: “It is considered a platform for determining the future of Syria, and therefore the presence of women must be guaranteed at all levels through representation mechanisms embodied in enacting organizational regulations that require women’s representation at no less than 30-50% in committees and negotiations, and inviting women’s organizations and prominent feminist figures to participate to ensure that decisions express women’s needs.”
Zozan focuses on supporting measures through empowerment and training and implementing training programs for women to raise their political and negotiating competence, not to mention monitoring and follow-up and establishing oversight committees to ensure the implementation of decisions related to women’s participation in the political process.
The Guaranteeing Laws
Zozan says in this regard: “There must be a push toward women’s quota laws and the issuance of a law that imposes a women’s representation percentage of no less than 30% in parliament, local councils, the government, state institutions, and constitutional committees, and particularly laws to combat gender discrimination.”
Regarding women’s empowerment laws, Zozan goes on to say: “There must be legislation that obliges the state to provide programs to empower women by providing financial and moral support to female political candidates, in addition to organizing training courses in leadership and political skills and establishing advisory centers to guide women interested in political participation through amendments to the laws governing political parties.”
Zozan draws on laws supporting civil society through enacting laws that support the work of women’s organizations and civil society organizations in strengthening women’s political participation, providing legal and political consultations for them and offering dialogue platforms that involve women in the nation’s issues, not to mention laws related to drafting the constitution concerning full gender equality, banning all forms of discrimination against women, and protecting their rights in all fields.”
Is There Direct Constitutional Recognition?
Political analyst Ahmed Hamish says: “According to the data, Syrian women will participate in the upcoming national conference and in drafting the new Syrian constitution, but I find it unlikely that there will be direct constitutional recognition, because it requires substantial political pressure and mobilization, whether from feminist currents or from currents that believe in women’s role, and this is what lowers our degree of optimism about formal constitutional recognition of their representation.”
This means, according to Ahmed, that Syrian women will have a role through the diverse political currents present in Syria ideologically, and the political currents in Syria are numerous and not limited solely to the hardline current with regard to women’s presence or work (such as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), for example), as the reassurances given by Ahmed al-Sharaa, the group’s leader, recently through official statements in which he affirmed the role of women, came after statements by Obaida Arnaout, the official spokesman for the political administration affiliated with the Military Operations Administration in Syria, which led to severe resentment in the Syrian street, and in the wake of which a woman was appointed head of women’s affairs in his government.
According to the current Syrian contexts, there must be a redrafting of an inclusive and comprehensive Syria that guarantees the legitimate rights of everyone, including women, who have been excluded for decades from participating in building the constitution and the bodies contributing to that process, something that would build a participatory constitution resulting in a pluralistic, decentralized state that includes all parties without exception.
