Amara Rojbîn-Şeristan Asmîn/JINHA

SHENGAL - The Êzidî women's fighting group YPJ Shengal has formed its first autonomous unit, Binevş Agal.

After the Daesh attack on the Êzidî attack on the city of Shengal, in the Federal Kurdistan Region of Iraq, the world watched as Daesh forces kidnapped thousands of Êzidî women to rape and sell. Êzidî women, with little help from the outside world, escaped or hid from Daesh. Thousands refused exile and the inevitable assimilation of their identities that it would entail, returning to the growing tent city on the slopes of Mt. Shengal. After a conference on March 20, women decided to form self-defense units: the YPJ Shengal (Women's Defense Units Shengal).

The woman initially received support from other Kurdish fighters of the PKK and YPJ. Now, they have formed their first specialized unit of only Êzidî women: the 18-women Binevş Agal Company, named after the young women from a Northern Kurdish Êzidî family who was one of the first Êzidî women to join the PKK and an early leader in organizing Êzidî women. For the Êzidî people, who have experienced a range of massacres from the states under whose rule they live over the centuries, many say this is a first.

"This is the proof that YPJ Shengal will, from this point on, only keep growing," said Vînar Karoj, a commander in the forces. "For us, in the past, as Êzidî women and youths there was no such thing as our self-confidence. But now there are people joining the YBŞ [men's unit] and the YPJ Shengal from everywhere."

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