The Union of Women's Societies in Damascus (Ittihad al-jamiyyat al-nisaiyya fi Dimashq) was a women's organization in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, founded in 1933. It was founded under the name Arab Women's Union in Damascus (Ittihad al-Arabi al-nisa i fi Dimashq), but changed its name to Union of Women's Societies in Damascus in 1944. In 1967 it was incorporated in to the

General Union of Syrian Women The General Union of Syrian Women (GUSW) is an organization founded in 1967 with the goal of mobilizing Syrian women by helping them to develop and further their education, political activism, and other skills to become more effective contributors ...

. It played in important role in the campaign for women's suffrage in Syria.

History

The Arab Women's Union in Damascus was founded when several small women's groups in Damascus united to form an umbrella organization under the leadership of the leading Syrian feminist Adila Bayhum al-Jaziri in 1933. This was a period when the Syrian women's movement was dominated by the large

Syrian-Lebanese Women's Union {{Short description, Women's organization in Lebanon and Syria The Syrian-Lebanese Women's Union (al-Ittihad al-Nisa'i al-Suri al-Lubnani) was a women's organization in Lebanon and Syria, founded in the 1920s and active until 1946. It has also be ...

. In the 1930s and the 1940s, the Arab Women's Union of Damascus presented a women's suffrage petition to President

Hashim al-Atassi Hashim al-Atassi (; 11 January 1875 – 5 December 1960) was a Syrian politician and statesman who served as the President of Syria on three occasions from 1936 to 1939, 1949 to 1951 and 1954 to 1955. Background and early career He was bo ...

and to President

Shukri al-Quwatli Shukri al-Quwatli (; 6 May 189130 June 1967) was a Syrian politician and statesman who was the first president of post-independence Syria, in 1943. He began his career as a dissident working towards the independence and unity of the Ottoman Em ...

, as well as directly to the Parliament. When the

Arab Women's Union Arab Feminist Union (AFU), also called All-Arab Feminist Union, General Arab Feminist Union and Arab Women's Union, was an umbrella organisation of feminist associations from Arab countries, founded in 1945.Weber, C. (2001). Unveiling Scheherazade: ...

was founded after the Arab Women's Congress of 1944 in Cairo, Adila Bayhum changed the name of the Arab Women's Union in Damascus to the Union of Women's Societies in Damascus to avoid confusion. During the 1940s and 1950s, the Union of Women's Societies in Damascus expanded when more women's associations was incorporated to it under its president Jihan al-Musuli. Despite the women's suffrage campaign conducted by the Union of Women's Societies in Damascus, the suffrage campaign has traditionally been ascribed to its president Adila Bayhum personally rather than the organization. When Adila Bayhum gave her support to

Husni al-Za'im Husni al-Za'im ( ''Ḥusnī az-Za’īm''; 11 May 1897 – 14 August 1949) was a Syrian military officer of Kurdish origins who served as head of state of Syria in 1949. He had been an officer in the Ottoman Army. After France instituted its co ...

, he promised her to introduce women's suffrage when he came to power in 1949, and the reform was finally introduced in 1953. Between 1958 and 1961, the Union of Women's Societies conducted a campaign for the reform of the personal status law, as well as to benefit women's independent work via handicraft and agriculture.Meininghaus, E. (2016). Creating Consent in Ba‘thist Syria: Women and Welfare in a Totalitarian State. Storbritannien: Bloomsbury Publishing. p.65-68 In 1963 the Baath Party took power, and in 1967 the Syrian women's movement was incorporated in to the state feminist

.{{citation needed, date= February 2025

References

Women's suffrage in Syria Organizations established in 1933 Women's organizations based in Syria