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.

Hîlala Zêrîn, against cultural genocide

The cultural movement Hîlala Zêrîn in Northern and Eastern Syria is a movement of women created to preserve their cultures and for cultural self-defense against the patriarchy.

Kongra Star supports women victims of war by developing projects

The Economy Committee of Kongra Star has developed a “poultry farming project” to support Arab women’s economic empowerment. The committee plans to develop more projects for women.

Demsal Project becomes hope for women

The “Demsal Project” is the most concrete form of women's labor in agriculture. In the beginning, four women worked on the project but now the number of women working on the project is 70.

Women plant more than 3,000 trees in NE Syria

The Ecology Committee of Kongra Star has launched a campaign with the motto, “Return to social ecology led by women”. Rihan Temo, the spokesperson of the committee, told us that women have planted more than 3000 trees until now.

Jineology is Everywhere

"Jineology organizes itself on the basis of many issues such as politics, economy, diplomacy and education. Through the communes, assembly, university, and media, we were able to reach out to women," says North-East Syria Jineology Spokesperson Hena Davud.

Women farmers in Deir ez-Zor affected by water shortage

Women farmers in Deir ez-Zor, who have been suffering from water shortage as Turkey has cut off the water flowing into the Euphrates River, call on the international community to put pressure on Turkey.

Ecology Discussions and Practices in the Kurdish Freedom Struggle

Ecology is one of the three pillars of the paradigm of Democratic Confederalism, the political-theoretical concept of the Kurdish Freedom Movement. Besides democracy and gender liberation, ecology has been mentioned explicitly as a dimension in this concept since 2005. However to date, ecology is less discussed and practiced than the two other pillars.

Health Works in the Rojava Revolution

Since the early years of the revolution, many internationalists and comrades from the region have given enormous efforts to improve this situation. For this reason, Lêgerîn Magazine talked with Xweza about the importance of medical work in the revolution.

Building Local Networks: Lessons from a Syrian Information Centre

Our media model seeks to deepen orientalising media accounts which reduce NES to a war-torn desert, voiceless, understandable only through casualty figures and refugee movement statistics. If a journalist wants to cover foreign ISIS-linked women, we suggest they speak to Yezidi victims too: if they want to cover the female fighters of YPJ, we suggest a supplementary interview with women at the center of NES’ political system.