Category: Women
Women’s freedom, or women’s liberation, is one of the three main pillars of the Rojava Revolution and the stateless self-governance model of the Autonomous Administrations of North and East Syria (AANES), as well as the Kurdish freedom movement more broadly, which initiated the revolution.
Women’s liberation is the most central pillar of the Kurdish freedom movement, and it is no exaggeration to say that the Rojava Revolution is a women’s revolution. There are many elements of the new system of radical democracy which have been created to build up women’s autonomy and freedom, such as the co-chair system, women’s co-operatives, and autonomous women’s councils in every democratic structure at every level of the system.
This is a strategy based on a historical understanding that patriarchy was the first system of oppression, developed more than 5,000 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia, and that all other systems of oppression such as race, class, imperialism, colonialism and slavery, as well as capitalism and the state itself, all have their roots in patriachy – the rule of men and enslavement and subjugation of women.
In the articles below, you can find information about women in North and East Syria, their lives, co-operatives and communal economy projects, and how the new system aims to build up women’s confidence and autonomy. There are also articles about women’s lives, livelihoods and struggles for liberation in the regions of southeastern Turkey known as Bakur by their largely Kurdish populations.
Women in Rojava to hold first “North Syria Women’s Economy Conference”
The Women’s Economy Committee is setting a new precedent by convening the North Syria Women’s Economy Conference. Mediya Serxwebûn talks about how the number of cooperatives in Rojava has reached 50, and states that they will come up with a three year plan based on their experience. Qamishlo [Qamişlo / Qamishli / Al-Qamishli] ─ Rojava is
First Women Economy Conference started in North Syria
150 delegates from Rojava-North Syria are taking part in the 1st conference of Women Economy in Rojava-North Syria.
Women’s Economy Spreads from Rojava to Aleppo
Kongreya Star continues supporting the women’s economy in Aleppo and creating appropriate jobs for women, by starting small projects to allow them to become self-sufficient and improve their own economy by themselves. Women in Aleppo have been suffering from the crisis for six long years; the war has caused a lot of poverty. They have been through harsh circumstances
Women’s Cooperative in Bakur / Southeast Turkey Handed Over to Erdoğan’s Daughter as Part of Ongoing Repression
The Xevasor Women’s Cooperative opened by DBP’s Gürpınar Municipality was handed over by the appointed trustee to KADEM where President Erdoğan’s daughter Sümeyye Erdoğan is vice president. A trustee had been appointed after DBP’s Gürpınar Co-mayors Yıldız Çetin and Zeki Yıldız were removed from office on February 3, 2017. Trustee Gürpınar District Governor Osman Doğramacı
“Participating Woman’s Cooperative Society” Begins Harvest in Kobane
Members of The Participating Woman’s Cooperative Society in Kobanî Canton [Kantona Kobaniyê] have begun harvesting the crops of wheat and barley that they planted at the start of last winter. Many of the members of Kongreya Star, The Movement for A Democratic Society [TEV DEM] and other women from Kobani have gathered in the village of Kasbishek, to
