Alawite women describe abductions and sexual violence amid post-Assad unrest

Overview

Several women from Latakia province have told the BBC they were abducted, beaten and sexually assaulted after Syria's regime fell in December 2024. Survivors describe armed men who claimed to be security forces dragging them into vehicles, detaining them in cells or industrial sites, and subjecting them to repeated rape, humiliation and threats; captors used sectarian slurs and some invoked the term "sabaya" to describe female captives. Accounts collected by the Syrian Feminist Lobby (SFL) cover more than 80 women reported missing between February 2025 and early December, with the group confirming 26 kidnappings; Amnesty International and other activists have also documented dozens of credible cases.

Families and rights groups say investigations by the interim government’s General Security Service have been ineffective or dismissive, and survivors report mockery, lack of follow-up and threats after reporting abuses. The interior ministry has said it reviewed 42 alleged kidnappings and classified most as non-criminal, while an anonymous security source told the BBC some officers were responsible and some were dismissed. Human-rights monitors warn of an ideological element targeting Alawites combined with a broader climate of impunity, leaving many victims too afraid of stigma or reprisal to seek justice, as reported by BBC