Raqqa was once considered the capital of the ISIS caliphate and was liberated under the leadership of women. A forum in support of women's struggles in Shengal and Afghanistan will take place in the city in northern Syria on Monday.
The Kurdistan Women's Community (KJK) launched a campaign to draw attention to the struggles of women in Shengal and Afghanistan. Between 3 August, the anniversary of the Islamic State attack on the Yazidi area of Shengal in South Kurdistan in 2014, and 15 August, the day the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in 2021, the fate and struggles of women will be discussed.
Women's organisations from different countries are participating in the campaign, including in the autonomous region of northern and eastern Syria. In this context, a women's forum will be held in Raqqa on 7 August. Representatives from Kongra Star, the Zenobiya women's community, the Future Party of Syria, the Jineolojî Academy, the PYD, Yazidi and Armenian women's associations as well as guests from other countries in the Middle East will take part in the forum, which will be held under the motto "In response to femicide, we build a free life, from Afghanistan to Shengal".
ANF spoke with representatives of Zenobiya and Kongra Star about the upcoming forum. Kongra Star is an umbrella organisation of the women's movement in north-east Syria, while the Zenobiya women's community is mainly made up of Arab women.
Women's forum in the former ISIS capital
Pencewîn Elî, a member of Kongra Star's Political Alliances and Relations Committee, said: "We support the KJK campaign. The campaign to support women in Shengal and Afghanistan is taking place at an important time. Thousands of women were murdered in Shengal, and women continue to be killed in Afghanistan and the rest of the world. Massacres and rape have taken a systematic form. Women and children have suffered the most from the massacre in Shengal. Many women are still missing. The same is true for Afghanistan. Since the Taliban came to power in August 2021, violence against women has increased. Women are being killed and deprived of their rights. The KJK has started a campaign in this context, and we declared our participation on 31 July.
The fact that the forum is taking place in Raqqa has a special significance. ISIS had appointed Raqqa as the capital of its caliphate and the liberation of the city was achieved through the will and struggle of women. Raqqa used to be the centre of torture, rape and massacre. Women are now coming together in this city to talk about these massacres and the role of women who were to be enslaved in building a free society."
Developing the common struggle
Nesrîn Hesen, who is active in the coordination of Zenobiya, pointed out the tasks of women's organisations in north-east Syria and said: "One of our tasks is to remember murdered women so that they are not forgotten. We see it as our responsibility to remember, in particular, the women killed by ISIS, and to search for the women who are still missing. What is happening in Afghanistan and what is being done to women there is common knowledge. Women are affected by all forms of violence. It is our responsibility to draw attention to this violence and to stop it. The fact that violence is still so widespread today and that we are not reaching the whole of society must be criticized, and is due to the fact that the common struggle against patriarchal thinking is still incomplete.
We want the world to know that we oppose all anti-women forces. Women are organised in our region. With the revolution taking place here, women have shown that they are leaders at all levels. The whole world has seen the commitment of women in liberating the region from ISIS. That is why we want to help women around the world break the chains of enslavement and take the path to freedom."
