Statement by the Women Writers Committee of PEN Syria
On the Occasion of International Women’s Day — March 8, 2026

On this day, the Women Writers Committee at PEN Syria celebrates women everywhere, and especially Syrian women who continue to defend freedom of expression and their rightful voice and place in public life.

The basic principle of freedom of expression is no privilege bestowed by the authorities; it is a right that no power or faction has the right to limit or undercut.

Now, the Syrian cultural landscape is gripped with anxiety:

A clear reduction of women writers in the public arena. Many have opted for withdrawal or forced silence after they themselves, or their colleagues, experienced systematic smear campaigns, organized cyberattacks and direct or indirect threats against their reputations and personal safety.

And some women writers who are still active in the cultural and media space meanwhile continue to find themselves accused of treachery, incitement and threats made plain and simple for speaking out about public issues.

We consider the denial of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on ensuring women’s representation, together with the failure to implement women’s quotas in official appointments and the absence of fair representation in state institutions, as creating a situation that excludes women’s voices and marginalises them.

This omission endows unspoken authority to narratives which attempt to eliminate women from the public arena. It makes it more and more common to deny women access to positions such as those in decision-making, to marginalize and exclude them in their cultural and media spaces.When promises to parity and equal representation aren’t kept, that sends a dangerous signal:

Women’s right to participate isn’t a right to be included but a partial concession.

 We also strongly reject and denounce the violence used to silence and exclude women from public life. We also deplore the deepening of the degradation of the environment for freedom of expression in Syria, the continuation of impunity, the absence of punishment of grave human rights violations, and the proliferation of hate speech and incitement based on identity.These dynamics disproportionately impact women. As active voices in both the cultural and symbolic realm, women writers are most vulnerable to harassment and threats when minorities are targeted, women are abducted for religious reasons, and civilian violations are committed without independent investigations or fair accountability.

As it marks International Women’s Day, we will therefore affirm the following:

1-Safeguard the right of all Syrians—women and men—to freely express their opinions and participate in political life, without restriction, intimidation, threats, or the use of force.

2-End hate speech and incitement on the basis of gender, and criminalize organized smear campaigns against women.

3-Investigate directly and transparently violence and threats against women writers, journalists and cultural figures, and ensure that perpetrators are held accountable under the law.

4-Implement effective protective measures for women who advocate for freedom of expression protecting them from retaliation.

 5-Call on states supporting the transitional authority to demonstrate no tolerance for policies or practices that undermine women’s participation, to exert visible pressure to ensure fair representation, to protect women’s freedom of expression, and to guarantee their access to public life. That includes confirming the transitional government’s commitment to applying relevant global agreements to ensure true, not symbolic, participation.

No fair and equal future in Syria can be achieved by the exclusion of women and the suppression of their voices. No political transition is meaningful apart from realizing the equal rights of all Syrians, and in every instance among them the right to freedom of expression.

From this day on, we affirm that women’s voices are an essential part of any project for freedom and justice; they are not a margin to be pushed aside or discarded. At PEN Syria, we will continue to stand beside every woman awriter who has chosen to say “no” to fear and “yes” to speaking out—raising her voice for freedom and for the right to participate in public life.

PEN Syria – Women Writers Committee