With the 19 July Revolution in Northern and Eastern Syria, women established many institutions and organizations to defend their rights and fight against violence.

One of these organizations is the Sara Organization for the Fight Against Violence Against Women, founded by a group of female teachers in Qamishlo on 1 July 2013.

The Sara Organization works to protect women’s economic, political, social and legal rights and to end violence against women and children in particular.

The Sara Organization focuses on issues such as violence, rape, polygamy and early marriage, based on Family Law, in solving social problems. The organization carries out many activities to protect women’s rights and raise social awareness. In addition, it provides women with support in different areas.

Committees of the Sara Organization

The Sara Organization is organized on the basis of 5 committees: justice, communication, press and archive, economy, work and monitoring violence.

Justice Committee: Examines rights violations against women, develops solution proposals and forwards unresolved files to the prosecutor’s office. It has representatives in court to defend women’s rights.

Communication: Favor contact between women and the organization and work on awareness. 

Press and Archive Committee: Documents the organization’s activities and prepares reports.

Economy Committee: Develops projects to empower women economically and organizes support programs.

Committee for Monitoring Work and Violence: Provides psychological support after the evaluation of women’s social situations.

The Sara Organization operates in cities such as the Afrin-Shehba Canton, Sirin, Kobanê, Qamishlo, Hesekê and Aleppo.

It also has offices in the Washukanî, Roj and Serêkaniyê camps. Currently, 119 female employees work to support women subjected to violence.

The organization administration told ANHA that they aim to open new centers in Raqqa, Tabqa, Manbij and Deir ez-Zor.

388 cases of violence against women reported in 10 months

The Sara Organization shared the statistics on violence and crime against women in the region between 1 January and 31 October 2024 with the public.

The 388 cases were listed as follows:

• 10 femicides,
• 2 threats of murder,
• 90 physical violence cases,
• 43 suicide attempts,
• 12 suicides,
• 2 rapes,
• 4 burnings,
• 52 polygamy cases,
• 37 child marriages,
• 50 abductions,
• 3 prostitution cases,
• 6 harassment,
• 73 psychological violence cases.

During the July 19 Revolution, known as the Women’s Revolution, women from the Kurdish, Arab, Syriac, Assyrian, Armenian, Circassian, and Turkmen components in Rojava and North and East Syria rose up against the actions of the authorities based on a patriarchal and sectarian mentality.

We present to you in this file the results of women’s efforts and activities, and the achievements they accomplished during the revolution, on the occasion of March 8, International Women’s Day.

The social contract

After the announcement of the Autonomous Administration of al- Jazira Canton on January 21, 2014, Kobani on January 27, and Afrin on January 29, 2014, the Legislative Council of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria met in the city of Amuda in the same year and ratified the Rojava Social Contract, which preserves the military, political, and social rights of women. The system of co-chair was adopted as a fundamental principle in all institutions of the Autonomous Administration.

The social contract was amended on December 29, 2016, and issues of freedom, justice, equality, education, health, environmental protection, women’s freedom, and the protection of women’s and children’s rights were fundamental in this social contract, with women’s representation in these areas reaching 40 percent.

In the context of people’s rights and women’s proposals, the Democratic Autonomous Administration amended the social contract again and ratified the new social contract on December 12, 2023. According to the contract, the representation of women in the public justice system in the region was set at 50 percent.

In 2024, preparations began for a social contract specifically for women, and work on it is still ongoing.

Women’s Authority

Women’s Authority is one of the bodies affiliated with the Executive Council of the Autonomous Administration. Its work involves addressing women’s social, economic, cultural, political, and legal issues, and it operates based on social justice and the democratic family.

The Women’s Authority includes the Women’s Protection Office and the Children’s Protection Office.

At the level of al-Jazira canton, the Amara Office was opened to provide psychological support to women who are subjected to extortion and abuse. Additionally, between 2022 and 2023, 7 centers named “Ahlan Simsim” were opened to develop children’s skills.

Women’s organization

With the aim of standing against all forms of violence and social problems and liberating from prevailing systems, and based on the principle of “Organize yourself according to the ideology of women’s liberation,” the Kongra Star was established as a union before the revolution in 2005, and it continues to manage community organization now under the name Kongra Star.

Kongra Star took the initiative to establish the first women’s councils and centers and organize them in the liberated regions of North and East Syria from ISIS mercenaries (al-Tabqa, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor). In 2021, the establishment of the Zenobia Women’s Assembly was announced, with its centers located in al-Tabqa, Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa, and Manbij before being occupied by Turkey and its mercenaries in late 2024. It is concerned with organizing women on all levels, in addition to addressing social issues such as violence, child marriage, polygamy, murder, divorce, and inheritance.

Many institutions to combat the patriarchal mentality

To combat violence against women in North and East Syria, the Sara Organization for Combating Violence Against Women was established in 2013.

The Center for Research and Protection of Women’s Rights was established in 2020 with the aim of providing legal support to women and documenting the ongoing violations against them.

The Free Women’s Foundation in Syria was also established in 2014 with the aim of developing and empowering women in the economic, cultural, social, and health sectors.

The Women’s Environmental Platform was established in Rojava in 2022 to promote environmental awareness.

Alongside these organizations, many women’s councils have been established in the region. In 2019, the Women’s Council in North and East Syria was established, and in 2017, the Syrian Women’s Council, the Women’s Council in the Democratic Union Party (PYD), and women’s councils and offices in the Future Syria Party, the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), and the Democratic Society Movement (TEV-DEM) were established. These are important and significant organizations in the region.

Women’s unions for the Syriac, Armenian, and Yazidi communities were also established in the region, along with the Young Women’s Union and the Women’s Media Union (YRJ), as well as several associations and civil society organizations dedicated to women.

Women’s House

In order to protect women’s rights, combat violence, prevent child marriage, address harassment and rights violations, and tackle all social issues in various cities, as well as to solve social problems according to the model of a democratic and ecological society and to liberate women, the first women’s house was opened in the city of Qamishlo on March 20, 2011, under the auspices of the Star Union (now the Kongra Star). Today, there are 39 women’s houses in North and East Syria.

Also, in the cities of Qamishlo and Hasakah in 2019, under the auspices of the Syriac Women’s Union, the Ishtarot House for Women was established with the aim of finding solutions to the problems faced by Syriac, Armenian, and Chaldean women.

Women’s Justice Council

The Women’s Justice Council was established in 2016 and operated throughout North and East Syria. Under its umbrella, the Women’s House, the Justice Bureau, the Reconciliation Committee, and the Academy were organized.

After the expansion of the liberated areas, the Women’s Social Justice Council in North and East Syria was announced at al-Jazira Conference for the Women’s Justice Council (2018).

Family law

The Women’s Law, which guarantees women’s political, economic, and social rights without relying on patriarchal or masculine mentality and achieves justice and equality, was issued on October 27, 2014, under the auspices of the Kongra Star and consists of 26 articles. However, due to the absence of specific penal laws, the penal code of the Damascus Government was adopted. The Women’s Law was completed in 2016 with the approval of the criminal and penal laws.

In 2019, at the first conference of the Women’s Council in North and East Syria, which included 62 women’s organizations and independent women, the Women’s Law was discussed as principles for women, and a decision was made to issue the Family Law.

The Family Law consists of 6 titles: marriage, divorce, effects of divorce, alimony, kinship, and family-related crimes, and it includes 41 articles. The law stipulates a prison sentence of 10 years for those who commit crimes of killing women. The Family Law was approved for the first time in 2023 in the al-Jazira region, and it protects women, children, and family members.

The security and military field

The Internal Security Forces – Women took over women’s security practically in 2012 and was officially established in 2014. It includes the Syriac Women’s Protection Units (Sutoro), the Assyrian Internal Security Forces (Natura), and women also have a place in the traffic department.

The Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) were established in 2013. Additionally, women take their place independently within the councils of Kurdish, Arab, Syriac, Assyrian, and Armenian components affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces.

In order to protect the community security-wise and prevent the proxy war being waged in the region from abroad, the Community Protection Forces for Women were established in 2016.

Golden Crescent Movement

The Hilal Zerin Movement for Women’s Culture in North and East Syria was established in 2016, and today it has 5 centers distributed across the region’s cities. Under the umbrella of the movement, the Shahida Berxwedan Studio and the Women’s Cinema operate as two institutions managing artistic works such as films, music videos, and song releases.

In 2024, the Hela Zerin Movement for Women’s Culture in North and East Syria inaugurated the Higher Institute of Arts in the city of al-Hasakah.

In 2020, the movement also opened the Martyr Noyla School of Fine Arts and established a children’s music band of the same name.

“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’s fate. It needs to be opposed and eradicated.”

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.

Sara was formed in 2013, its initial membership being mostly composed of teachers in the public school system. They chose the name “Sara” because it was a common woman’s 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, “We 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 ‘STOP,’ in red to symbolize blood, because it was employed by numerous other organizations advocating for women’s rights and standing in solidarity with them against violence.”

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 in 2016 and in Afrin in 2015 – prior to Turkey’s occupation of the region. Sara has since expanded its reach, including campaigns in IDP camps across NES.

Sara’s Role in the Justice System of NES

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

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. “We assert that our objective is to advocate for the victim and uphold the principles of justice,” 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. “However, in such cases, we refuse to accept this justification,” Tammo says, “maintaining that it is imperative to reject the notion of ‘honor’ as a defense for murdering women.”

After the Women’s 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 “women are life, do not kill life.”

Difficulties and Reception

When the Women’s 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.” I said: if they do not even want to listen to this, how can we implement it?” Tammo shares, “but 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’s fate. It needs to be opposed and eradicated.”

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’s heard about women being killed by their husbands. “I do not understand why someone has to die, even if there is evidence of cheating. Why can’t the two parties simply break up and leave each other? Why does anyone’s life have to be taken?” She says, “Men 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.”

Sara’s work is not without opposition. Tammo shares that sometimes they get harassed by men:

“Some 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 ‘honor’ 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.”November 25, 2024

The Sara Organization to Combat Violence against Women, a women’s organization based in North and East Syria’s Qamishlo city, organizes awareness-raising activities and events to end gender-based violence and femicide.

“We launch campaigns, organize conferences and panels to raise awareness about gender-based violence,” said Rasha Derwish, Spokesperson of the Sara Organization. “During our activities, we tell women the principles and goals of our organization so that women can get to know us better.”

‘Our aim is to create a society without violence’

Women face many challenges in society, Rasha Derwish said, adding, “We make efforts to solve all the problems faced by women. Our aim is to empower women and provide psychological support to them. We promote women’s participation in society and aim to create a society without violence.”

‘More efforts are needed’

The Sara Organization also uses social media platforms to raise awareness about gender-based violence. “We defend women everywhere and make efforts to solve the problems faced by them,” said Rasha Derwish. “We provide all kinds of support to women survivors of violence. More efforts are needed to overcome the obstacles faced by women in society.”

The ‘We Are Hope, We Are Peace’ campaign launched on 1 July by the Sara Organization for the Fight Against Violence against Women, which operates in Northern and Eastern Syria, continues at full speed. This campaign, which will be completed by the end of August, aims to introduce the Family Law.

The Family Law, by securing civil rights and banning polygamy and child marriages, introduces strict sanctions regarding domestic violence and takes measures to protect women and children. It also aims to ensure that family relations are conducted fairly by making regulations on issues such as divorce and marriage.

The Family Law consists of a total of 41 articles under 6 headings: marriage, divorce, the effects of divorce, the livelihood of relatives, crimes related to kinship and families.

Delal Osman, a member of the Sara Organization for the Fight Against Violence against Women, spoke to ANF about the aim and progress of the campaign.

Focusing on raising awareness of men

Delal Osman said: “We started such a campaign to respond to the increase in violence against women. We realized that the campaign would be important because the male-dominated mentality deals with women in line with reactionary traditions and customs, oppresses women and takes away their rights. In line with this initiative, we are focusing on raising the awareness of men rather than women. We are holding discussions with men and deeply addressing the foundation of a democratic family.”

Osman added: “Violence against women has not ended. We are aware of the intense tendencies towards women, and in line with the weight of this, we want to prevent the killings and violence against women that take place under the name of ‘honor’. In fact, women also needed to be made aware of the legal dimension. They needed to know that there were laws that defended women’s rights and that it was time to express the reflections of violence against their bodies and minds.”

Encouraging a democratic family model

Delal Osman said that the campaign was carried out in line with the introduction of the Family Law and that visits were made to villages, towns and districts in the region. “These visits take place in the form of home visits, meetings, seminars and panels. We also distribute brochures and provide information about every article of the Family Law. The aim of the initiative is to explain the rights provided by the law to women who are not aware of the Family Law and to encourage a democratic family model. The interest of society in the initiative is positive, and the discussions are intense. Many people have heard of the Family Law but were not familiar with its content. We also observed problems related to traditional family structures and violence.”

It has branches in many cities

Stating that the organization was founded to protect women from violence and women’s rights, Reca İsa says, “We have branches in Kobanî, Hesekê, Sirîn, and Qamishlo. Sara Organization was founded on the principle of solving women’s problems, ending violence against women, securing, supporting, and protecting their rights. We, as the organization, follow violence against women trials. As members, we are expected to constantly improve ourselves so that we can help women and solve their problems. We hold seminars in districts and towns for women to know more about their rights. We also work coordinately with other women’s organizations in Rojava Kurdistan.”

“You are Hope” campaign

Noting that Sara Organization launched a campaign called, “You are Hope” against suicide among women, Reca İsa says, “Recently, the rate of suicide committed by women have been increasing. For this reason, we launched a campaign called, “You are Hope”. We visited several schools and gave presents to students. We also monitored teachers’ relationships with young people and determined the needs of students. They are in a sensitive process; they are easily influenced by family, school, and society. That’s why we have a project to have a psychologist in every school. We will realize this project in the upcoming months. We are going through a war process. There are effects of war on society.  Because women are more concerned with their family income than men, they are most affected by economic or psychological problems.”

They launched a campaign as part of the 16 Days of Activism campaign

Sara Women’s Organizations launched a campaign with the motto. “Your voice is my voice, no to femicides” as part of the 16 Days of Activism campaign against gender-based violence. “We launched the campaign in Qamishlo, Kobanî, Hesekê, and Sirîn. We distributed brochures and hung posters in these cities. Many men did not know the history of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.  We told them the history of this day. We visited Jinwar village and held a seminar in Qamishlo as part of this campaign. We held a conference with the motto, ‘Because You Are Free’ in cooperation with the Women Pioneers’ Network and the Şawişka Women’s Association for victims of violence,” Reca İsa says.

Violence Monitoring Committee

Stating that Sara Women’s Organization formed a committee called, “Violence Monitoring Committee, Reca İsa says, “This committee is important to combat against gender-based violence. The committee members follow the cases of harassment, rape, violence, femicide, and suicide. The court and Women’s House support us to follow these cases. When the court does not grant women their rights, we have the right to object to it. We don’t accept women to be deprived of their rights.”

Violence rate in 2021

Mentioning that violence is increasing all over the world, particularly in the Middle East, Reca Isa states that there are cases of suicide due to the psychological war against their region. “In NE Syria, 39 women were killed by men, 92 women were subjected to violence, 24 women received death threats, 5 women were subjected to abuse, 34 women committed suicide and 24 women attempted to kill themselves in 2021. We, as Sara Women’s Organization, try to end violence and build a safe life for women.”

They will open new branches in 2022

Reca İsa tells us their plans for 2022. “We will open branches in Derik, Raqqa, and Ayn İsa. We will continue to hold seminars and launch campaigns to eliminate gender-based violence.”

In addition to the central Assad-led government, both the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and various opposition groups control territory in the country— and will likely have some say in its post-war future. Yet their respective policies on women’s rights and representation are vastly different— an important distinction to make in assessing the country’s progress and determining international support.

Leadership and Representation

Women in the Autonomous Administration and the Syrian Democratic Forces hold senior leadership roles across policy functions and at all levels of their institutions. Ilham Ahmed, the co-chair of the Syrian Democratic Council, acts as the region’s de facto head of state, speaking before the U.S. Congress and meeting U.S. President Donald Trump last year. Further, the SDF operation to liberate Raqqa from ISIS control was led by a woman commander, Rojda Felat.

With the exception of women-only institutions, every deliberative body operates under a co-chair system, where all leadership positions are held jointly by one woman and one man. Offices and commissions within the Executive Council of the Administration, equivalent to cabinet departments, also use this system.

The Syrian opposition, however, lacks senior female leaders. In 2012, an early conference of the Syrian National Council elected no women to its 41-member decision-making group and the Syrian National Coalition has never had a woman president. In fact, the first woman to serve as the head of any opposition local council was only elected in 2018.

These disparities in senior leadership are reflected across the political structures of each faction. The Autonomous Administration’s constitution mandates that elected bodies and political parties, from the highest levels of the Administration to the smallest neighborhood commune, be made up of at least 40% women. Autonomous women’s organizations, like the Women’s Council of North and East Syria, exist in parallel to every mixed-gender institution, making the percentage of women actually serving in government slightly higher than men. These institutions have the ability to overrule and advise mixed-gender institutions on issues of women’s rights.

The Autonomous Administration’s constitution mandates that elected bodies and political parties, from the highest levels of the Administration to the smallest neighborhood commune, be made up of at least 40% women.

In contrast, a 2016 report from the Syrian Feminist Lobby quoted a study of 105 of the 427 local councils in opposition-held Syria at the time, which found that just 2% of their members were women. Just two women, including the Vice President, serve on the 23-member Political Committee of the Syrian National Coalition, and just 10% of the members of the Coalition’s General Body are women.

Based on this data, the Autonomous Administration would fall into the Middle East Women Leaders Index’s categorization of Ascending Representation— meaning women’s participation and leadership is high at all levels of government and across all policy areas. The report accurately classifies the Syrian government in the category of Aspiring Representation— meaning that women’s participation outside of traditional roles is still low. Despite claiming to represent a new future for the country, the Syrian opposition falls into this category as well.

Legal Status and Protections

New laws implemented by the Autonomous Administration contrast favorably with opposition laws and policies on women’s issues. In North and East Syria, the Women’s Laws address inequities in personal status that existed in Syrian law, and explicitly ban and criminalize child marriages, domestic abuse, and other forms of social inequity and gender-based violence. The region’s constitution states that “men and women are equal in the eyes of the law” and “guarantees the effective realization of equality of women and mandates public institutions to work towards the elimination of gender discrimination.”

Women who face discrimination or violence have significant institutional and social recourse. Women’s NGOs, like the Free Women’s Foundation and the Sara Organization for the Prevention of Violence Against Women, operate openly. Institutions known as “women’s houses” provide community-based mediation for domestic disputes and protection from unsafe home situations. Jinwar, an all-women’s village, is home to women who have lost their husbands in war, experienced sexual violence, and otherwise require support.

In opposition-held regions, no pretense of formal legal equality or legal protections is made. HTS, which controls much of Idlib, excludes women from political bodies and limits their basic freedoms, running gender-segregated schools,enforcing conservative dress codes, and forcing women whose husbands have been killed in the ongoing conflict to move in with a male “guardian.” These policies are enforced by ISIS-like morality police. Activists and civil society organizations that resist them face persecution, and must operate in secret; there is no legal resource for domestic violence, forced marriage, and other gender-based violence under religious law.

In opposition-held regions, no pretense of formal legal equality or legal protections is made. HTS, which controls much of Idlib, excludes women from political bodies and limits their basic freedoms…”

A recent UN report condemned the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army’s treatment of women in areas it has taken over, warning that “by targeting almost every aspect of Kurdish women’s lives…armed groups generated a palpable fear of violence and duress…[which] resulted in an undermining of women’s ability to meaningfully participate and contribute to their community.”

The report stated that these actions— like the assassination of Hevrin Khalaf, a former economy co-minister and then co-chair of the Syria Future Party targeted by Ahrar al-Sharqiya militants in October— constituted a concentrated attempt to “dismantle” the Autonomous Administration’s efforts to advance the status of women.

As the Index notes, laws and policies that regulate the lives of women and girls can either prepare them for political participation and leadership or act as obstacles to it. It is clear that the Autonomous Administration has done the former— while opposition groups have not been willing to implement such protections, and have even gone so far as to seek to force women out of public life altogether.

Why does it matter?

The Autonomous Administration provides a tried and tested blueprint for women’s political empowerment, a policy priority the opposition lacks. The gap in political and social opportunities for women between areas controlled by each faction is shocking. In areas that the SNA has captured from the SDF, like Afrin, Ras al-Ain, and Tel Abyad, the deterioration of women’s rights and basic personal safety is notable.

However, this dynamic has not factored into discussions on the country’s future, or determination of which factions deserve political and diplomatic support. Opposition groups that marginalize women have not faced any consequences for their actions— and the Autonomous Administration’s empowerment of women has not been discussed as a model for the rest of the country or a project that deserves support. Greater understanding of the fundamental differences on this issue, and the unique advances the Autonomous Administration has made, is essential for ensuring that women can play the role they deserve in all aspects of Syria’s future.

“After living under oppression for hundreds of years, our society was heavily influenced by patriarchy and the male mindset. This is why Kongreya Star was established… Our work has a good impact, for example we provide women facing domestic violence with the opportunity to leave the home and gain financial independence.” – Hamida Umma Mohammed, Kongra Star of Shehba, Afrin region

Kongra Star makes decisions through a conference every two years, as well as devolving decision making power to its various committees and member bodies. It is organized through communes and councils, as well as through academies, unions, political parties, cooperatives, associations and committees. Women organize as Kongra Star within the structures of the Autonomous Administration as well as through other structures such as the Syriac Women’s Union (for Syriac-Assyrian women) and in an independent capacity. Kongra Star organizes its work through the following committees: Diplomatic Relations, Participation, Media, Education, Municipalities & Environment, Justice, Culture & Art, Social Affairs, Political Affairs, and Women’s Collective Self-Defense Forces.

Kongra Star organizes and supports a wide range of activities and initiatives at all levels of society including demonstrations, training programs, participation in international partnerships, and setting up cooperatives. Although it has its roots in the Kurdish movement, steps are being taken to include women of all ethnic groups living in North and East Syria. There have been challenges in establishing a shared vision and practice of women’s liberation across all of society, but there have also been numerous tangible successes.

“We need to change the capitalist mentality – which is a patriarchal mentality – which seeks to make profit out of everything. But we cannot allow woman to become independent from man by putting herself in an exploited position [of employment]. It is not about integrating her into a capitalist system through work, it’s about building up a new economic system.”
Arin Khalil, Women’s Economy Committee in Qamishlo

Cooperatives, organizations and education

In different sectors, women developed autonomous structures and associations which are linked principally to Kongra Star, but also sometimes directly to the Autonomous Administration or SDC (Syrian Democratic Council). One example is ‘Sara,’ an association that campaigns against violence against women and works to change social perceptions and educate society. Another example is the Women’s Foundation (Waqfa Jin), which is establishing kindergartens, orphanages and specialized schools for disabled children. They also offer practical education to women in vocational skills.

A lot of work is also being carried out in the economic sphere: the Women’s Economy Committee of the Autonomous Administration and Kongra Star (Aboriya Jin) has supported the creation of a number of women’s cooperatives, allowing women to learn skills and become financially independent. These include bakeries, restaurants, tailoring workshops, factories and agricultural cooperatives. It is envisioned that women-only businesses will develop a mode of working different from more dominant, capitalist ways of working.

An interesting development in North and East Syria has been the growth of Jineology, translated as ‘the science of women.’ Jineology is a branch of academic study that seeks to develop a methodology and epistemology of liberation through connection with society and ‘revolutionary principles.’ Since 2011, Jineology has been developed across the broader Kurdish women’s movement. Its stated aim is to counter the preconceptions and methodologies of science as developed by a dominant male mentality, and to “rewrite knowledge from the point of view of women”, with the ultimate objective of “the emancipation of society”. In practice, Jineology works through local research centers, institutions and academies, conducting research, developing ideas and running seminars and training programs.

Jinwar, a village exclusively for women and their children, was founded in 2016 near the city of Dirbesiye. The Jinwar project entails the creation of a village where women alone develop the culture, economy, daily life and governance. Women also built the physical village, using traditional, environmentally sustainable techniques to construct clay houses, a communal kitchen and gardens. The village feature a school, a medical clinic, an academy, a bakery, herd animals, a shop, vegetable garden and several fields for crops. Women organize village life through a council and take part in running the collective economy of the village. However, the women and their children had to evacuate the village for some time following the October 2019 Turkish invasion due to shelling and the proximity of Turkish-backed forces to the village.

North and East Syria contains a network of ‘Women’s Houses’ (Mala Jin) in all cities and many smaller towns. The Women’s Houses exist to solve women’s issues, particularly domestic problems such as violence, marriage and divorce, and oppressive behaviors in the household.

This article is an excerpt from our report “Beyond the Frontlines – The building of the democratic system of North and East Syria”.

The brutal recapture of Aleppo by Syrian government forces and its allies at the end of 2016 does not bode well for another enclave of resistance: the predominantly Kurdish area in northern Syria. Here, in a long strip of land that runs almost continuously from east to west along the border with Turkey, a radical secular experiment with women in the driving seat has been under way since 2012.

Most journalists are, understandably, preoccupied with the death, destruction and refugee stories that have come to define Syria. But it means that many politically engaged people in Britain have never heard of Rojava, the name Kurds give to this part of their homeland, the whole of which is divided between Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran.

I was one of the last journalists to be allowed to cross the border from Iraqi Kurdistan in March 2016. The contrast between the two predominantly Kurdish areas in Syria and Iraq could not have been more stark. On the Syrian side, there was not a mall, billboard, skyscraper or motorway in sight – almost a rural idyll. The strangely treeless landscape was dotted with “nodding donkeys”; oil wells that explain partly why ISIS had attempted to establish its caliphate here and why Rojava will be bitterly fought over by all the regional powers. The entrance to and exit from every small town and village are guarded by checkpoints and there are concrete barriers in front of all official buildings, but there was none of the devastation that characterises the rest of Syria.

The volunteer defence forces of Rojava have fought ISIS so effectively that a US-led coalition is providing air cover and military expertise and are advancing on Raqqa as this goes to press. The women-only defence force, the YPJ, who fight alongside the mixed-sex YPG, gave Western audiences their first glimpse of this revolution via “sexy” pictures of Kurdish women in military fatigues and floral headscarves. They graced our television screens when releasing Yazidi women and children from the ISIS siege of Mount Sinjar in December 2014 and in liberating Kobani from its well-publicised siege by ISIS in January 2015. But we were given no clues as to the kind of society these women were building. It is possible to take the cynical view that women are being used, under the guise of equality, as fodder, simply because the war effort requires all hands to the pump. However, not only are women equally represented in the joint command and the military council which lead these forces but at every level as part of an explicit commitment to gender equality.

This self-governing region, with a multi-ethnic population of anything between 3.5 and five million people (accurate figures are not available due to the displacement caused by war), is experimenting with a bottom-up “stateless” structure, facilitated by the multi-party organisation Tev-Dem, the Movement for a Democratic Society, in which the PYD (Democratic Union Party), which has links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) of Turkey, plays a leading role. Neighbourhoods form communes and elect their representatives to the next level on the co-presidentship principle of one man and one woman sharing power. The same principle applies all the way up to city and national levels, including the running of co-operatives, schools, the army, the police force – in fact, any institution you care to name.

Kongreya Star, the women’s umbrella organisation, runs a women-only, autonomous structure parallel to Tev-Dem to ensure that a feminist perspective is brought to bear on all issues identified as important to the community. “The historic imbalance of power cannot simply be corrected by introducing quotas for women or the principle of co-presidentship,” says Delal Afrin, head of the Women’s Economic Unit. “The confidence that men and women bring to the job will be different unless the confidence of women is built up through the self-reliance, knowledge building and training they acquire in the setting up of co-operatives. A society that is able to organise an economy where women are given productive roles is the sign of a mature and reflective society.” Tilting the balance in favour of women settles the age-old argument about whether you need to go the extra mile to create a level playing field. You do.

There are committees to deal with health, education, economics, utilities and conflict resolution, which includes domestic violence. If they are unable to resolve the matter, the case is referred to the women-only asayiş, or police officers, who deal with issues of domestic and sexual violence. If the courts rule that the perpetrator must be imprisoned, he is taken away, given gender equality training and returned to the home only if the woman wants him back and he appears to have reformed. The situation is then monitored by the conflict resolution committee.

Kongreya Star was set up in 2012 and already they say they have succeeded in abolishing child marriage, forced marriage, FGM and polygamy. Honour killings, violence and discrimination against women have been criminalised. Steps have been taken to prevent any attempt to stop a woman marrying of her own free will. Women, regardless of their marital status, have been given the right to custody of their children until the age of 15. A woman’s testimony has been declared equal to a man’s. Women now have the right to equal inheritance. Marriage contracts will be issued in civil courts. Sharia courts, Assad’s favoured means of dealing with domestic disputes, have been disbanded in this part of Syria. Mona Abdsalam of SARA, an organisation based in the city of Qamişlo that supports women escaping domestic abuse, believes that the incidence of violence has halved since the passing of the laws.

The Rojava revolution owes much to the ideas of Abdullah Öcalan, founder of the PKK, which has historically campaigned for an independent Kurdish nation-state in the region. In prison in Turkey since 1999, because of the ongoing conflict between his organisation and the Turkish state, he is denounced as a terrorist; indeed, the PKK is a proscribed organisation in many countries including the UK. His thinking evolved partly as a result of discussions with women in the party, particularly Sakine Cansiz, co-founder of the PKK, who was assassinated in Paris in 2013. In his pamphlet Liberating Life Öcalan argues that no society can be free until its women are free. He is perhaps the first such leader to put women at the centre of his revolution. He states that “no race, class or nation is subjected to such systematic slavery as housewife-isation” and believes that religion severely inhibits women’s equality.

* * *

Öcalan had been mobilising the Kurds in Syria since 1980, until he was expelled in 1998. His presence was tolerated by Assad because it acted as a brake on Turkish ambitions in Syria. The PKK drew thousands of Syrian Kurds into its ranks in the 1980s and dominated Syrian Kurdish political parties. Many fought against Turkey on behalf of the PKK, which suited Syrian interests to such an extent that the Syrian state did not conscript Kurds into military service because serving in the PKK was recognised in practice as a substitute.

Those who have followed the history of the PKK, not least through its Stalinist phase when dissenters were assassinated, may be wary of accepting this new phase in Öcalan’s thinking. But his ideas have changed drastically in several ways: Öcalan has also dropped his demand for a separate state of Kurdistan. This is partly in recognition of the multiethnic nature of the region – where Arabs, Turkmen, Christians and Yazidis live side by side with Kurds – but also because he now sees the nation-state as inherently patriarchal and anti-democratic. Many Kurds who were attracted to the idea of a nation-state as a way of escaping the oppressions faced by their community in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran have been unable to sign up to these new ideas. While the PKK in southeast Turkey is struggling to implement Öcalan’s ideas amid a reopened conflict with government forces (as they are to a lesser degree in Iran), the Kurds in Iraq are running a de facto independent state on socially conservative, tribal lines within a capitalist economic framework.

Öcalan’s new focus on women’s rights is forward-looking, though not without its problems. His view is partly based on an idealised view of Neolithic society before the rise of the nation-state, especially in the Mesopotamian cradle, where Kurdish communities have historically been based. Meredith Tax describes this aspect of Öcalan’s thinking in biblical terms in her book A Road Unforeseen: Women Fight the Islamic State: “Now Kurdistan, the place of original sin, must become the place where this sin is reversed.” It implies some mythical state when all was well with the world and men and women were equal – Eden before the fall.

Similarly Öcalan’s edict to PKK cadres (many of them Syrian Kurds who returned home to fight in 2012) to forswear sex because “it is impossible to imagine another institution that enslaves like marriage” seems like a welcome critique of patriarchy – but it actually reinforces restrictions on women’s sexual freedoms. Amina Omar, the head of the women’s ministry, told me that the biggest demand for accommodation in their 12-bed refuge comes from single women who have become pregnant and are attempting to escape their family’s wrath. The one example of institutional inequality I found was that women, once married, were not allowed to join the YPJ, while married men were allowed to join the YPG, an inequality justified on the grounds of “our conservative society”. The widespread disapproval of sexual relations, whether couched in a progressive or conservative perspective, prevented any discussion of LGBT issues, which were dismissed as an “aberration” or as unimportant in a revolutionary context.

These internal contradictions, along with the shortages created by a war economy, are not the only threat to this fragile experiment. On the international front, so beleaguered is Rojava that even its friends are its enemies: Iraqi Kurdistan has closed its borders with Rojava and is building an actual trench to mark the separation. Their strings are being pulled by Turkey, with whom they have extensive trade links. The US is likely to turn on Rojava once ISIS has been vanquished; Rojava’s anti-capitalist project is a threat to the values that America holds dear. Turkey, on its northern border, is so afraid that the successful Syrian Kurdish experiment will spread to Turkey that it has closed the borders and has been sponsoring rival rebel groups to fight the Kurds.

Nor is Rojava getting the support you would expect from progressive forces interested in equality and human rights, which it desperately needs to break out of its isolation. The fact that it has received support from both imperial powers (Russia also provided air cover at one stage) has created suspicion among left-leaning people in the UK. The head of border control in Rojava, Mr Karawan, with whom I had a wide-ranging discussion on world politics while waiting for entry clearance, said they have to accept support from anyone who is prepared to provide it because their survival is paramount. The fact that Rojava has a clear line on religious extremism and is therefore prepared to fight the Islamist factions of the Syrian rebels antagonises some supporters of other anti-Assad rebel groups.

* * *

There are more prominent criticisms, too. A Human Rights Watch report published in 2014, Under Kurdish Rule: Abuses in PYD-run Enclaves of Syria, investigated “arbitrary arrests, abuse in detention, due process violations, unsolved disappearances and killings, and the use of children in PYD security forces”. However, the report acknowledges that in comparison to the actions of the Syrian government and some Syrian rebels, “the human rights abuses committed by the PYD and its security forces are far less egregious and widespread”. Influential writers on Syria like Robin Yassin-Kassab (interviewed in the Autumn 2016 New Humanist) are also ambivalent. In an interview with the Socialist Worker, Yassin-Kassab said Rojava is a “disaster” because it is a Kurdish experiment being imposed on Arab areas but at the same time he praises the Rojava revolution. He describes the PYD as authoritarian while saying that it is “probably better than most political parties operating in the region”. In its defence, the Rojava administration will point out that when its forces liberated the town of Manbij from ISIS, self-governance was left to the predominantly Arab local population, who decided not to implement the co-presidentship rule. Gender equality was sacrificed in the name of democracy.

A 2015 report by Amnesty alleged that the YPG/YPJ had forcibly displaced people and razed Arab villages it had liberated from ISIS. In response, the YPG/YPJ said that residents were not allowed to return until the villages had been cleared of mines left by the retreating ISIS forces and pointed out that Amnesty’s interviews with Arab villagers had been facilitated by YPG/YPJ fighters themselves.

The central leadership of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom is also opposed to Rojava, although some local branches like the one in Brighton take a different line. This is baffling, as every objective they are campaigning for on behalf of Syrian women seems to have been met in Rojava. It may be that their support for peaceful solutions to conflict cannot accommodate armed struggle by the YPJ even if carried out in self-defence. At a recent meeting, Madeleine Rees, WILPF Secretary General, seemed to suggest that it was a matter of waiting it out because internal tensions in ISIS would lead to its implosion. Laila Alodaat of WILPF was also concerned that YPG/YPJ recruited children. A documentary on the YPJ, Her War, shot in 2015, did feature interviews with girls aged 16. The recruitment of children cannot be justified but for context, a UN report in 2015 found 24 children were recruited by YPG/YPJ as opposed to 142 by the Free Syrian Army, a major rebel coalition elsewhere in Syria. (A YPJ representative, Deniz Sipan, stated recently that the recruitment age is now 18.) I quote these figures not to condone YPG/YPJ practices but simply to maintain a sense of proportion.

Yet the Rojava experiment gives us much to learn from. Other rebel-held areas of Syria have tried to enact self-governance and direct democracy, yet Rojava, which has achieved 40-50 per cent representation of women – while some councils in rebel-held areas outside Rojava have only achieved 2 per cent representation despite huge amounts of human rights work by women on the ground – stands out on grounds of gender equality alone. The rejection of religious fundamentalism partly explains why; and this fact should inform the deliberations of other similar movements and their supporters around the world.

We need to be alert to evidence of crackdowns on free speech and human rights which may, like woodworm, rot the goals of the revolution from the inside. But for the moment we need to demonstrate critical solidarity with a daring initiative to build an alternative future. If Rojava succeeds, against the odds, it will strengthen the resolve of all those around the world who put people and the planet ahead of profit. Even if it fails, it is a reminder that the human impulse to justice and equality cannot be crushed indefinitely.

This article was first published on the New Humanist website