Dozens of Alawite women report kidnappings and sexual violence after Assad's fall

Overview

Dozens of women — almost all from Syria's Alawite community — say they were abducted, beaten, sexually assaulted or threatened in the months after Bashar al-Assad's fall in December 2024. The Syrian Feminist Lobby has recorded reports of more than 80 women missing and confirmed 26 as kidnappings; Amnesty International has received credible reports of at least 36 abductions and documented eight in detail. Survivors interviewed by the BBC describe being dragged from homes or picnics, held in underground rooms or industrial sites, repeatedly raped, photographed and threatened with sale or forced marriage. The accounts include teenagers and mothers from Latakia province and span February to early December 2025, overlapping with a wave of sectarian killings in March that left more than 1,400 people, mostly Alawites, dead.

Responses and consequences

Families and activists say investigations by the interim government’s General Security Service were inconsistent or stalled: the interior ministry told the BBC it investigated 42 cases and judged all but one to be false, while a security source acknowledged some kidnappings — including by security personnel who were dismissed. Human rights advocates warn of an ideological element to many attacks and of a broader climate of impunity that allows opportunistic abductions to occur. Survivors and relatives describe mockery, threats and little access to justice; many fear social stigma or reprisals, and some have fled the country. Campaigners say 16 Alawite women remain missing. as reported by BBC