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 build common life in Jinwar
Speaking about the Internation Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the women living in the village of Jinwar, an all-women village, said that women must struggle against all forms of violence.
“We don’t face male violence here,” says Zeynep Siri, who lives in Jinwar village
Zeynep Siri, one of the women who took shelter in the in Jinwar village due to the pressure and violence they faced, who has been living in the village for four years. “I have been realizing my dreams in the village. Women should stand against the slavery to free themselves. They should defend their rights,” she said.
Rojava Women’s Co-operative DemSal
The cooperative Demsal is a project of the women's economy committee of the women's movement Kongra Star. The cooperative has been active since 2015 and the agricultural process is constantly being expanded to give women the opportunity to take their lives into their own hands.
Mother Taybet Women’s Counseling Center reaches hundreds of women in two years
The Mother Taybet Women’s Counseling Center in the Silopi district of Şırnak has become the shelter of women in the district. The center, which has received more than 50 applications from women victims of violence, aims to reach more women.
The economic reality and the social economy in NES
The economy of the autonomous Administration takes social economy as its main pillar, in which everyone participates to establish a local economy that seeks to reach self-sufficiency.
Women in NE Syria come together to develop new projects
The Women's Committee of Til Temir Council held a meeting with the participation of women co-chairs of towns and rural areas to develop new projects in order to minimize the effects of the economic crisis in the region.
Life goes on in Jinwar despite the war
War is raging in the autonomous region of northern and eastern Syria, and Turkish bombs have also hit near Jinwar. Nevertheless, life goes on in the women's village.
Women Of Raqqa Break “Stereotyping” After Five Years Of Liberation From ISIS
After ISIS was expelled from the city of Raqqa in northern Syria at the hands of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) supported by the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, women were enabled to play their assumed roles in all fields and break stereotyping.
Women revive life in Teanê
Women revive life in the Teanê village of Shahba by having a communal life.
Women reviving silkworm farming expect support
After breeding, rearing, and harvesting silkworms, Sevda Eren sells silk to earn a living. “The state should support us to make our labor visible,” she says.
Liberation of Manbij leads to positive changes for women
Emphasizing that the liberation of Manbij leads to positive changes for women, Nisrîn El-Elî and Hiba Dada say that the women of Manbij are more aware of their rights now.
