![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: Food Cooked With Love
How women in Idlib kept the Free Syrian Army going.
Syria: My Son, My Protector
A mother forges a strong relationship with her son in the face of divisive family politics.
In Syria, a Mother's Sorrow and Pain
“Heroism will not die with the death of my sons.”
Syria: Waiting for a Cup of Coffee
Story of a life shaped by government repression.
The Power of a Costly Document in Syria
A mother bribes officials to get papers that will keep her son out of prison, and out of the army too.
Crawling Through Trenches to Safety in Syria
Civilians narrowly escape capture or death as they evade a government checkpoint.
Detained and Abused for Delivering Aid in Syria
After entrapment and interrogation, a series of prisons and finally a miraculous release.
Syria: A Key to No House
Family returns to village recaptured from Islamic State to find home in ruins.
Syria: A Sick Joke on April Fool's Day
In government-held areas, people think one thing and do another.