Beginnings
Although she couldn't obtain her graduation certificate from the Geography Faculty at Damascus University, joining the revolutionary work became more important to her. Her arrest became a turning point in her life, transitioning her from map design to participating in organizing peaceful demonstrations and supporting the Syrian revolution through various activities on organizational and administrative levels.
Bayan Reyhan currently serves as the Head of the Women's Office in the Local Council of Duma City. Additionally, she works as a trainer in the field of human development at the "Women Now" organization. Furthermore, she holds the position of Communication Officer at the "The Day After" organization and serves as the director of the women's department within the "Sham" Center for Documentation and Statistics of Human Rights.
As Duma stood among the first rebellious Syrian cities against the Syrian regime, Bayan found herself naturally engaged in the peaceful movement. Being from a family with a "legacy of struggle" dating back to the days of French occupation, she carries an inheritance of resistance and rejection of injustice spanning nearly a century, as she describes it.
Women Revolutionaries of Eastern Ghota
Reyhan established the "Tha'irat" (Revolutionary Women) Coordination in 2012, aiming to be the first female Syrian assembly in Eastern Ghota. She allocated roles to the workers in the coordination, engaging them in medical work to save the wounded and injured during battles and bombardments.
She also participated in founding the "Tha'irat" magazine during the same year, actively distributing it in Damascus and its countryside. However, her work in managing the coordination and supervising the magazine was suspended on 25 September 2012, when Syrian regime forces arrested her. During her detention, she endured physical and psychological torture before being released in a swap operation involving Iranian soldiers and officers.
In 2014, Reyhan received an invitation along with a group of activists from Duma from the then-president of the local council, Akram Tuama, to discuss one of the projects they had previously proposed to the council. The meeting resulted in her invitation to work within the council.
"At the beginning, it was quite challenging being the only woman in the council," Reyhan shared with Enab Baladi. She added that the support of some of her colleagues at work helped her overcome the initial obstacles and face opposition to her involvement in administrative tasks.
Reyhan points out that she repeatedly faced critics and adversaries in her work. She and her activist colleagues were excluded from administrative and political gatherings that included influential figures and authorities in the area. This, to her, posed obstacles 'larger than the war,' in her own words.
Through her insights into the activities of revolutionary institutions, Reyhan perceives that a significant portion of these establishments 'still operate according to the regime's approach,' which involves favoritism and connections. She considers that one of the major problems facing institutional work is the focus on relief rather than humanitarian efforts, along with weak coordination and a lack of integration.
Reyhan believes in the necessity of women and their role in rebuilding Syria's future due to the large number of men who have been arrested or martyred. This has imposed significant responsibility on Syrian women, leading them to occupy medical and educational positions in vast areas within the 'liberated' Syrian territories.
Following World War II, German women managed to revive and reconstruct their country across all levels. According to Reyhan, the Syrian war must place women alongside men in a position of integration rather than defiance to confront the regime and rebuild Syria.