Joint Statement
Date: 10 September 2026
The Regional Coalition for Women Human Rights Defenders in South West Asia and North Africa (WHRDMENA) is following with grave concern and outrage the smear campaigns and calls for violence against Syrian woman rights defender (WHRD) and feminist Rola Al-Rokbi, Palestinian WHRD and feminist Sama Aweida, as well as the Palestinian organizations Al-Siwar — an Arab feminist movement—and Women Against Violence, both of which are known for their long-standing and veteran roles in combating violence against women and promoting women’s participation in the public sphere, particularly in politics.
The attacks and personal smear campaign against WHRD and feminist Rola Al-Rokbi, Director of the Women Now for Development organization in Lebanon, take a political form that brands her a traitor and distorts her longstanding political positions—in response to her call, made in her statement before the UN Security Council on 27 August 2026 for the genuine participation of women in the public sphere and Syria’s governance structures, as well as for holding accountable the perpetrators of grave violations in Suwayda and the Sahel, and demanding transitional justice that does justice to all victims regardless of the perpetrators. Meanwhile, WHRD and feminist Sama Aweida is being targeted and attacked for her rejection and work to ban child marriage via a facebok page entitled: “The Popular Movement to Cancel the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). On the other hand, the organizations Al-Siwar and Women Against Violence are being attacked after launching a campaign titled #motaharish e’tazil, which calls for holding all perpetrators of sexual violence within civil society and the public sphere accountable, including those with political or social influence or authority. Accusations of treason, defamation, and the dissemination of false and misleading information against feminists and WHRDs have long been tools used by actors in the manosphere to spread their far-right ideologies and suppress any discourse on human rights or feminism.
The coalition believes that the manosphere’s targeting of Al-Rokbi, Aweida, Al-Siwar —an Arab feminist movement—and Women Against Violence resembles the campaigns of lies, defamation, trials, and killings that targeted witches between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries, when religious fundamentalism was used against them, along with the claim that they were against Christianity, practiced heresy, and were in actual alliance with the devil, to justify targeting and prosecuting them. The Regional Coalition for WHRDs condemns the vicious attack on Al-Rokbi, Aweida, and Al-Siwar — the Arab Feminist Movement and Women Against Violence, both members of the coalition — in addition to the manosphere’s use of devious tactics to target them in order to fuel their patriarchal agenda and smear campaigns aimed at silencing any discourse on violence against women or preventing women from assuming key roles and positions in the public sphere, and to impose misogynist control and domination in societies, thereby exacerbating all forms of violence against feminists, WHRDs, and women’s human rights, as well as fragmenting struggles and perpetuating violations at all times and in all places.
The Regional Coalition for Women Human Rights Defenders in South West Asia and North Africa (WHRDMENA) and the signatories of this statement call on human rights and feminist groups and organizations to stand in solidarity with Rola Al-Rokbi, Aweida and the organizations Al-Siwar — the Arab Feminist Movement and Women Against Violence — and to adopt their demands regarding holding all influential suspects accountable for their perpetration of all forms of violence and abuses, including sexual violence, as well as the demands Rola Al-Rokbi raised before the UN Security Council—not only to combat the targeting of these women, but also to amplify their feminist voices against virulent patriarchy and to criminalize the despicable acts aimed at silencing feminist voices that call for societies where women enjoy their inherent right to physical and psychological safety, participation in the political and public spheres, and a safe environment that guarantees justice and dignity.
Signatories:
- The Regional Coalition for Women Human Rights Defenders in Southwest Asia and North Africa (WHRDMENA)
- Al-Nadim Center for Psychological Treatment and Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence
- Women Against Violence Organization (WAVO)
- Al-Midan Association for Development and Human Rights
- Women Now for Development
- Adala Association for the Right to a Fair Trial
- Syrian Female Journalists Network (SFJN)
- Women’s Studies Center – Palestine
- Center for Egyptian Women’s Legal Assistance (CEWLA)
- Rural Women’s in Aljazeera Association for Rights and Feminist Studies
- Barah Amen – Egypt
- Future Organization for Enlightenment and Development
