{"id":13212,"date":"2024-11-25T13:56:24","date_gmt":"2024-11-25T13:56:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/?p=13212"},"modified":"2024-11-25T13:56:24","modified_gmt":"2024-11-25T13:56:24","slug":"interview-sara-organization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/interview-sara-organization\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview \u2013 Sara Organization"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. RIC<\/a> interviewed Arzo Tammo, the coordinator of Sara\u2019s Qamishlo<\/a> center. Sara<\/a> is an organization specifically created to address violence against women<\/a>, such as combating kidnapping and underage marriage.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Arzo Tammo [RIC]<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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\u201cWe need to challenge the prevailing traditions and cultural norms that perpetuate violence against women and make it seem inevitable. We assert that violence will never be women\u2019s fate. It needs to be opposed and eradicated.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Violence against women and girls remains one of the most prevalent and pervasive human rights violations in the world, according to the UN. Globally, almost one in three women have been subjected to physical and\/or sexual intimate partner violence, non-partner sexual violence, or both, at least once in their life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sara was formed in 2013, its initial membership being mostly composed of teachers in the public school system. They chose the name \u201cSara\u201d because it was a common woman\u2019s name among the Christian, Arab, and Kurdish communities living in the region. Choosing a commonly-used name also served the purpose of concealing their operations, which could be met with societal backlash. In choosing the logo, Tammo explains, \u201cWe observed that a significant number of women who sought our assistance had visible signs of physical abuse inflicted by their husbands. We chose to utilize the hand gesture representing \u2018STOP,\u2019 in red to symbolize blood, because it was employed by numerous other organizations advocating for women\u2019s rights and standing in solidarity with them against violence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tammo tells RIC that Sara started as a volunteer organization, and most of its members are still working on a volunteer basis. Their first center was opened in Qamishlo, followed by centers in Kobane<\/a> in 2016 and in Afrin<\/a> in 2015 \u2013 prior to Turkey\u2019s occupation of the region. Sara has since expanded its reach, including campaigns in IDP camps across NES.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sara\u2019s Role in the Justice System of NES<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When the DAANES passed the Women\u2019s Law<\/a> in 2014, Sara was gratified. The Women\u2019s Law entails principles such as prohibiting so-called honor killings, preventing polygamy, and prohibiting violence against women in general. The Family Law<\/a> is the current iteration of the DAANES\u2019 legislative enshrinement of women\u2019s rights. Tammo explains that an article from this law that is most helpful to Sara is the one that permits a representative of women\u2019s organizations to be present at court cases dealing with violence against women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sara accompanies women in court to ensure that their case will be heard in adherence to the Family Law. They sometimes act as defense attorneys for women who cannot afford one. \u201cWe assert that our objective is to advocate for the victim and uphold the principles of justice,\u201d says Tammo. Even if a woman already has an attorney, Sara representatives can still be present at the court case to make sure justice will be doled out properly. Tammo explains that in many instances, the two families involved in a dispute will reach a reconciliation after making a financial payment to the family of the victim. In return, the aggrieved family will drop their lawsuit and accept the justification of the killing as a matter of honor. \u201cHowever, in such cases, we refuse to accept this justification,\u201d Tammo says, \u201cmaintaining that it is imperative to reject the notion of \u2018honor\u2019 as a defense for murdering women.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the Women\u2019s Law was passed, Sara went on a campaign to spread knowledge of it, knowing it could be difficult for the society to grasp. They disseminated information about the legislation through lectures, meetings, and discussions. One of the campaigns they launched was titled \u201cwomen are life, do not kill life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Difficulties and Reception<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When the Women\u2019s Law was originally implemented, there was a public reading of the law in a city square. When members of Sara attended, they heard complaints from men in the crowd. There were many doubts about how the law would be carried out.\u201d I said: if they do not even want to listen to this, how can we implement it?\u201d Tammo shares, \u201cbut we decided to struggle, trusting that time will bring results. We need to challenge the prevailing traditions and cultural norms that perpetuate violence against women and make it seem inevitable. We assert that violence will never be women\u2019s fate. It needs to be opposed and eradicated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The work is not easy and the situations of women who come to Sara can be quite heavy. Tammo shares having experienced insomnia from some of the cases she\u2019s heard about women being killed by their husbands. \u201cI do not understand why someone has to die, even if there is evidence of cheating. Why can\u2019t the two parties simply break up and leave each other? Why does anyone\u2019s life have to be taken?\u201d She says, \u201cMen under no circumstances have the right to kill their wives. It is wrong and unfair, also for the children who are left without a parent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sara\u2019s work is not without opposition. Tammo shares that sometimes they get harassed by men:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome men have been angry with our work, perceiving us as working against their traditions, culture or tribal legal system which allows them to kill in the name of \u2018honor\u2019 with impunity. Therefore, we are sometimes worried. But these threats do not break our will. Despite the difficulties, challenges, and fears, we are taking this work on our shoulders. We take the risk for the sake of women and their freedom.\u201dNovember 25, 2024<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. RIC interviewed Arzo Tammo, the coordinator of Sara\u2019s Qamishlo center. Sara is an organization specifically created to address violence against women, such as combating kidnapping and underage marriage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13213,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[356,315,366],"class_list":["post-13212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-women","tag-family-law","tag-rojava-information-center","tag-sara-organisation"],"acf":[],"wps_subtitle":"This interview was published by Rojava Information Center<\/a> on 25 November, 2024","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13212"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13215,"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13212\/revisions\/13215"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}