activist

Zainab al-Hosni

زينب الحصني

Journeys

Zainab al-Hosni: The First Woman Martyr

Zainab al-Hosni was 17 years old when she was arrested by Syrian security forces in Homs in July 2011. Her family searched for her for weeks. Human rights organizations reported that her mutilated body — decapitated and with her arms cut off — was returned to her family in September 2011. Human Rights Watch documented her case as one of the earliest documented killings of a woman by Syrian security forces. Her story became one of the most cited examples of the regime's targeting of women and families during the revolution.

Biography

Zainab al-Hosni was a 18-year-old Syrian woman from Homs who became one of the first documented female victims of the Assad regime's detention and torture apparatus. Her brother, a protest activist, was arrested in mid-2011; when her family searched for him, they were told Zainab herself had been detained. Her dismembered and burned remains were reportedly found in September 2011 alongside other bodies in Homs, making her a symbol of the regime's brutality against women and families of activists.

Documentation Status

VerificationConfirmed

Journeys1

Key Facts

Born:1994

Place:Homs, Syria

Died:2011

Nationality:Syrian