Şerivan Kürdistan left her four children behind and went to Kobanê to join the YPJ when ISIS attacks began on the canton. She said: “For me the YPJ expresses change and will.”

28-year-old Şerivan Kürdistan was living in Istanbul when the attacks began in July. She ended her ten-year marriage and went to Kobanê to join the ranks of the YPJ. With the latest assaults she has been behind the front line, risking her life to convey supplies to her comrades at the front. Şerivan Kürdistan called on women, saying: ''Never submit. Begin the freedom struggle everywhere.”

'The search for freedom in Rojava answered my search’

Şerivan Kürdistan, originally from Tatvan, said she had gone to Istanbul as a child and married young. 'I’m 28 and was married for 10 years. I have four daughters, the eldest is nine. I decided to join the revolution and left my husband,” she adds.

She said her search for freedom had begun when she got married, as she began to understand how marriage rendered women unable to express their will. Şerivan Kürdistan said that when the Rojava revolution began she saw the change and freedom it created for women, and that it provided the answer to her search for both the freedom of women and as regards the demand for an identity.

'The revolution needed to be defended’

“At least, that’s what I observed from a distance,” said Şerivan Kürdistan. ''Then they began to attack the revolution. I believed that the Rojava revolution had to be defended against these attacks. It was difficult for me as a woman and a mother to make this decision, but the ISIS attacks on Kobanê in July ensured I made the decision. I left my husband and children and came to Kobanê at the end of July, and joined the ranks of the YPJ”.

Şerivan Kürdistan said she had come to Kobanê with a certain dream, that of a women’s model and a social one, adding: “I was not sure if my dream would be realised, but as soon as I arrived I encountered an environment that met my expectations and this made me very happy.”

'YPJ expresses change and will’

Şerivan Kürdistan emphasised that the Rojava revolution and the YPJ signified change and will for her. She added: ''After joining the YPJ my outlook on life changed. My perceptions of men, society and the state changed. I realised that I had previously accepted enslavement as part of the natural order of things, and this shook me. Now the fact that I am able to wage a struggle against this has made me strong. I no longer consider the dominant approach to be natural and I am fighting against this.”

'I have witnessed the heroic defence of values’

Şerivan Kürdistan said she was illiterate prior to joining the YPJ, but was now able to read books. She said she had witnessed heroic resistance by women who put their lives on the line in defence of values, which had cemented her loyalty to the YPJ.

'I take logistic support to my comrades’

Kürdistan said she had wanted to take her place on the front line when ISIS launched its attacks in September, saying: ''The comrades put me in logistics. I convey supplies to comrades at the front. I want to be in the front line, but my commanders want me to remain in logistics and I’m trying to behave accordingly.”

Şerivan Kürdistan concluded by calling on women to not think they are helpless. “They should not bow to tyranny. The YPJ offers women the chance to struggle for freedom. I invite all women to join their ranks,” she added.