![Yazidi refugees celebrate news of the liberation of their homeland of Sinjar from ISIL extremists, while at a refugee camp on November 13, 2015 in Derek, Rojava, Syria.](https://cdn.shortpixel.ai/spai/q_glossy+ret_img/https://iwpr.net/sites/default/files/styles/max_325x325/public/images/focus/GettyImages-496991140%20copy.jpg?h=56d0ca2e)
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Speaking Out: Women's Voices from Syria
Years active: 2015-2018
Women are among the hardest-hit by the war in Syria, yet many play vital roles in the struggle for human rights, gender equality, reconciliation and social justice.
IWPR’s Speaking Out project provides a space for female writers to share their experiences of daily life both in Syria or as refugees abroad. It is a platform where they can publish their views at a time when they struggle to be heard amid ongoing atrocities, mass displacement, collapsing public services, and personal tragedies.
The blog posts are written and published in Arabic and also translated into English for publication here and on IWPR’s Syria Stories website.
Syria: Humiliated for a Bag of Bread
Caught while smuggling food past government soldiers.
Syria: "Don't Cry, I'm Alive"
A family nearly comes to grief while fleeing no-man’s land in Douma.
The Peril of Taking Taxis in Raqqa
Simply venturing out onto the streets has become an ordeal for women in Islamic State-controlled city.
Syria: Battling on Two Fronts for the Right to Study
Despite security worries, a young women insists on going to university.
No Mercy Under Fire in Raqqa
A women fleeing an airstrike is confronted by an Islamic State militant.
Syria: A Decade of Insults
A daughter is stigmatised by her father’s links to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Syria: An Exceptional Woman
At the age of 105, a grandmother remains a staunch revolutionary.
Syria's Children All Deserve to Live
A mother describes the guilt of leaving the country to seek refuge abroad.
Syria: Waiting for Samih
A mother longs to see her only son again.