Systematic violence against women in the regions of Afrîn (occupied since 2018), Serêkaniyê and Girê Spî (occupied since 2019), and Manbij (occupied since 2024), is being denounced once again on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25.
Due to the near impossibility of conducting independent research in the occupied territories, exact figures are unknown. However, data documented by local women’s and human rights organizations paint a clear picture.
According to a report compiled by the Center for Research and Protection of Women’s Rights for the period November 2024-November 2025, at least 25 women were killed, 37 were injured and 23 others abducted (the fate of many remains unknown) in Afrin, Serêkaniyê, and Girê Spî.
Speaking to ANHA about the organization’s findings, the Center’s director, Şêrîn Çolî, stated the following: “Women in these areas are subjected to all forms of physical, sexual, and psychological violence. Kidnapping cases are rapidly increasing, especially in Afrîn. Kidnapped women are severely tortured in prisons, and their fate is uncertain. Yazidi women are forced to convert to another religion, wear the hijab, change their names, and marry armed men. Due to the pressures they face, psychological disorders and suicides have reached serious levels.”
According to the Afrin Human Rights Organization, between November 2024 and November 2025, 14 women were killed in Afrin, 22 were injured due to violence, and 30 women were kidnapped, with the fate of many still unknown.
According to the Human Rights Organization in Syria, between January and September of this year, two women were killed in drone strikes in Cizire Canton.
In Euphrates Canton, two women were killed by drone strikes, and one woman by shelling. In Manbij, 19 women were killed in drone attacks, armed assaults, and explosions. In Afrin, seven women were martyred due to armed attacks or suicide. Four women were injured by shelling in Cizire Canton. Three women were injured in the Euphrates Canton by drone strikes and ground shelling. Thirty-six women were injured in Manbij due to drone strikes and explosions.Three women were injured in armed attacks in Afrin.
These attacks, including drone strikes, artillery shelling, and air raids, were carried out by the Turkish occupying state and allied mercenaries.
In November and December in 2024, two women in Afrin were injured in an armed attack; three women were killed and two injured in shelling in Manbij; two women in Manbij were killed in armed attacks; one woman was killed in a drone attack; and another woman was abducted. In Kobani, two women were killed by ground shelling and two by drone strikes; and drone strikes killed two women in Ain Issa.
The Center for Research and Protection of Women’s Rights was established in 2020 to document violations committed against women. It has branches in Qamishlo, Heseke, Raqqa, Tabqa, and Kobani, as well as an office in Brussels, Belgium.