The YJŞ paid tribute to those killed on 3 August 2014 during the genocide attacks carried out by ISIS in a statement released to mark the seventh anniversary of the attacks on Shengal.

Reiterating their loyalty to Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, the YJŞ said that “Öcalan saved us from genocide with his ideas”.

The YJŞ noted that the aim of the 3 August 2014 genocidal attacks was to “destroy the Yazidi people, religion, belief, culture, language, history and morality.” The YJŞ added that “women were targeted the most in these brutal attacks. United under Öcalan's ideas, the freedom fighters fought against the atrocities and prevented the genocide. HPG-YJA Star and YPJ-YPG did not remain silent about the genocide and looting of Shengal and displayed a great resistance against ISIS.”

The statement added: “We have seen how dangerous it was when the women did not defend themselves. Self-defence and the YJŞ have been formed on this basis. We are able to deal with further attacks. The threat on Shengal will continue as long as Shengal's official status remains unrecognized. Particularly, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) has become the main actor in the massacre and extermination of our people (…) For our Yazidi people, the most significant response to the annihilation and denial policies is to expand their military and political organization and establish their autonomous administration.”

The statement continued: “There have been great changes in women’s organizational skills in the Shengal region that will prevent massacres and conspiracies. The line of struggle, life and resistance against the Yazidi massacre has reached its highest levels. In order to achieve better results, we must never forget the 74th massacre. We, as the Shengal Women's Units, will raise our struggle. We will keep our martyred comrades alive at every moment of our revolutionary initiatives. We will further increase the strength and resistance of the YBŞ and the YJŞ. We will expand our resistance and struggle in every way to ensure the recognition of the autonomous status for Shengal. More importantly, we consider ourselves responsible for the physical freedom of Öcalan and we will increase our struggle to achieve it.”