A convoy of 2,000 women is currently driving to the Syrian border to raise awareness of the plight of women in Syria.
The self-described "conscience convoy" set off from Istanbul on Tuesday and is expected to reach the Turkey-Syria border on Thursday, International Women's Day.
The group has described itself as the "voice of the oppressed women in Syria" with more than 50 nationalities, including women from Thailand, Ghana, South Africa, Yemen and Sudan, aboard 55 buses.
Nelson Mandela's daughter-in-law Rayne Rose Mandela-Perry is also believed to be travelling with the convoy.
The buses left Istanbul on March 6. Source: Getty
Organisers of the convoy said about 7,000 women are currently being held in prisons in Syria.
activists will demand "the release of women and children being held in Syrian prisons who are being raped and tortured by the Assad regime".
'Rage against the Assad regime'
SBS News talked to Scottish activist Yvonne Ridley as the buses were leaving the Turkish capital of Ankara and driving south.
Ms Ridley said "there are injustices against women globally but the plight of the Syrian women has become desperate and this is where we want to put our focus on International Women's Day".
"We head for the border tomorrow. We will rage against the Assad regime and demand the prisons are emptied. We will roar for justice on behalf of the Syrian women."
2,000 women are Syria-bound. Source: Getty
Nour, a Syrian activist, who declined to give her full name told Reuters she was unjustly imprisoned for a month by the government of President Bashar al-Assad for her humanitarian work.
"Women have been exposed to war, suffering, asylum, and forced displacement in all countries subjected to war. We call on the entire world to protect women," she said.
Bosnian contingent
Among the group are 200 women from Bosnia, many of whom lost loved ones in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.
"We wanted to do something for Syrian women because we understand their pain the most," Bosnian activist Shehida Abdurahmanovic told Anadolu Agency.
"The most important message I have for these women is: stay strong, be always strong because no matter what, after the war ends, you are witnesses of it, you will be the voice to get justice, you will have to fight for peace, this is why you have to be strong," she said.
Fellow Bosnian Gurdic Ramiza told Anadolu Agency that soldiers had attempted to take her during the conflict, but she resisted.
"Raise your voice and never forget the war crimes and the perpetrators," she said.
Additional reporting: Reuters
