Sinem Akgül – Rojin Axin/JINHA

SHENGAL – Defense forces in the embattled Êzîdî homeland of Shengal called for all women to take up the fight for self-defense this March 8. Members of the Kurdish fighting groups HPG, YJA Star and YPJ Shengal spoke to JINHA about the importance of women's struggle for them as they fought to restore a city that had witnessed brutal acts of femicide and genocide.

In August, Daesh gangs launched an assault on Shengal in which they slaughtered Êzîdîpeople and abducted women and girls as slaves. About 5,000Êzîdî women are still in Daesh hands. It was only thanks to the intervention of fighters from Northern Kurdistan and Rojava that a greater massacre was avoided in Shengal.

"The system is currently sending Daesh to attack us. They know that women are the ones who lay the groundwork for freedom and this is why they massacre women and target them so intensely," said Adar Eriş Gever, sending greetings to all the women currently fighting in TilHemîs (the rural area of Kobanê which has recently seen intense fighting).

Rojavan women were also taking part in the defense of the Shengal resistance as the YPJ Shengal. Arîn, a YPJ fighter, noted that the same forces who looted Shengal had attempted to destroy the women's revolution in Kobanê.

For Beritan Serhat of the Northern Kurdistan-based YJA Star, there were two reasons that inspired her to take part in the Shengal resistance: first, to liberate the city but also to find a way to save the Êzîdî women. She said there were many women for whom it was currently impossible to take part in the liberation struggle.

"We're here for them. Women have always been held back, but we're trying to destroy that role for them."

Amed Gever, of the men's fighting group HPG from Northern Kurdistan, said that for him, the leadership role of women in the PKK tradition was extremely important.

"Women in Shengal and Rojava are resisting," he said, "and I congratulate them on their struggle."

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