DW Akademie Study Safer platforms, stronger participation
Online platforms and other reporting mechanisms, including the regulatory framework, are weak, and many survivors do not file a complaint as most of the time the
perpetrator is anonymous, which makes penalizing them
very challenging. According to the Syrian Women Journalists and Human Rights Defenders in the Digital Space
study conducted in 2021, Facebook is the platform where
most harassment takes place, followed by WhatsApp and
Instagram. Similarly, the Digital Violence against Women in
Syria study conducted in 2023, Facebook and WhatsApp
were the most cited spaces for harassment, blackmail, and
defamation campaigns, followed by Telegram. Even if such
platforms have reporting mechanisms, their enforcement
in Syria is quite weak (Afef Abrougui and Rula Asad, 2021;
Al-sakkaf and Alsayed, 2023).
the Syrian people and the blood of the free Syrian people.
Those who run these organizations have become billionaires, while in the past they didn’t even have enough to buy
a loaf of bread. What is the reason for that?”
3.5 Media platforms
scanning
In 2021 Facebook was the platform where
most harassment took place, followed by
WhatsApp and Instagram.
In addition to media efforts, women-led and feminist civil
society organizations (CSOs) appear to be leading the
fight against GBVO online. However, it has been observed
in the exploratory scans and primary data collection that
the Civil Society sector faces reputational challenges
among segments of the Syrian public, as they are often
accused of being financially opportunist. This reputation is
even more so for women-led and feminist organizations as
they are accused of being “homewreckers”. That does not
negate the harassment and GBVO faced by individuals,
yet GBVO oriented comments were observed to surface
in response to the discussions around women, which
are usually captured and reported by CSOs and women
focused networks. Efforts to fix such reputational issues
such as the anti-feminist backlash campaign in the MENA
region exist, yet this negative perception undermines their
credibility and hampers the effectiveness of their initiatives to combat GBVO. Rather than reinforcing trust and
solidarity, these reputational constraints limit the reach
and impact of their advocacy, making it more difficult to
mobilize broad support for addressing GBVO. An example
from our GBVO monitoring stated: “Shut up, you associations of lies and exaggeration about women; all cases
of divorce and the destruction of homes are caused by
you.”, “Only when you leave the country alone and let the
people live, would we be able to achieve peace.” and “Now
everyone supports and employs women at organizations
and associations, but since the liberation of Syria, we have
not seen anyone monitoring or holding these organizations accountable. We all know how much they exploited
The exploratory scan of GBVO across social media pages
highlighted social rifts not only along gender lines, but
also across ethnicity, religion, and political sectarianism.
Following major shifts in Syria’s conflict, areas that were
once cut off from each other are now reconnecting,
creating new, and often tense, forms of online engagement. Much of this interaction takes place between
communities that have lived for years under different
governance and security arrangements and, as a result,
developed distinct political narratives and social norms:
the northwest and northeast have been shaped by separate conflict-era authorities and institutions, while much of
the south has remained more closely connected to
Damascus-based structures; the coastal governorates are
also frequently referenced as a distinct context given their
particular history and sensitivities. Against this backdrop,
online exchanges frequently carry sectarian and political
undertones, and disagreements across these divides can
quickly escalate into harassment and GBVO, further fueled
by local flashpoints such as the internal tensions in the
Sweida area (NGO Sphere, 2025; OHCHR, 2023). Individual
attacks and systemized campaigns disproportionately
target individuals who voice dissenting views, with women
subjected to sexualized and verbal attacks that aim to
silence and discredit them.
Individual attacks and systemized campaigns
disproportionately target individuals who
voice dissenting views, with women
subjected to sexualized and verbal attacks
that aim to silence and discredit them.
This polarization is evident in comments directed at both
men and women, as those who voice divergent political
opinions face intense defamation and reputational harm.
Female activists, in particular, are disproportionately
targeted: they are subjected to sexual harassment and
accused of betrayal for failing to stand in solidarity with
other minorities or social factions. These dynamics are
highlighted in the experiences of well-known female
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