Kurdish woman Jina Mahsa Amini was arrested on Tuesday during a family visit in the Iranian capital Tehran by the so-called customs and religion police because she was not wearing her hijab as prescribed. In police custody, she was beaten and suffered a fatal brain haemorrhage. She died in a Tehran hospital on Friday.

"The patriarchal mentality continues to kill women everywhere. As the Kurdish Women's Liberation Movement, we condemn with anger and hatred the murder of Jina Mahsa Amini by the Iranian morality police. We welcome the uprising of women in Iran and Eastern Kurdistan against this atrocity. We offer our condolences to the family of Mahsa Amini, her relatives and the Kurdish people", said the Community of Women of Kurdistan (KJK) in a statement on Sunday.

The KJK Coordination pointed out that the murder of the young woman is only the latest example of the Iranian regime's femicidal practices: "As the misogynist Iranian state's torture of women in all walks of life is normalised and the inhumane practices against women are systematised and legitimised, oppression and massacres have increased. The oppressive and sexist system of rule in Iran manifests itself in the shooting of women, their murder by torture in front of the eyes of the whole world, their rape and the introduction of child marriage. The policies of the misogynist fascist states, which have their breeding ground in sexism, religious fanaticism, sectarianism, nationalism and domination, continue to massacre women, exploit them, drive them out of their homes, make them jobless and homeless."

THE CULPRITS AND PERPETRATORS ARE POLITICAL POWERS THEMSELVES

Women are systematically murdered in the male domination system all over the world, said the KJK statement, which further included the following: "While this nameless state of war is going on all over the world, the massacres of women in our country, Kurdistan, do not stop. In the four parts of Kurdistan, the colonialist states want to weaken and intimidate society with a policy of feminicide. In Northern Kurdistan, sexual assault, rape, murder, prostitution and the involvement of women in drug networks are practised as a special war policy. The repression and arrest of deputies, representatives of Kurdish women's organisations and representatives of the people working in the field of democratic politics, the intensification of torture in the prisons, the deliberate suspension of release from prison and the policy against sick prisoners aim at breaking the will of the women who resist fascism and domination. The direct action against the pioneers of the women's liberation struggle in Rojava is an expression of the ruling system's fear of women's free stance. As expressed by the women who are taking their anger to the streets in the face of these brutal attacks, the real culprits and perpetrators of such killings are the political powers themselves, who are trying to entrench the male-dominated mentality in all sectors of society.

Therefore, the murders of women that occur in various forms today are not isolated cases, but part of a systematic massacre of women. The increase in feminicides is essentially an expression of the crisis of the system. In Kurdistan, we are struggling against the ruthless attacks of the colonialist, fascist and male forces that cannot bear our resistance, sociality, values, achievements and identity. Today we are confronted not only with women's gains but also with misogynist tendencies that target women for murder.

WOMEN NEED TO IMPROVE THEIR CAPACITY FOR SELF-DEFENCE

"The only way to stop the systematic massacres of women is to develop women's capacity for self-defence. As women, we must hold accountable this brutal power that is personally responsible for feminicides with its mentality, policies and practices.

It is necessary to strengthen the common struggle and self-defence everywhere and stand side by side. The brutal practices of the anti-women right-wing fascist regimes impose obedience on us women in all spheres of life. They want to put us in a position of obedience to the dominant man, the male system. The economic, political, ideological, social and cultural foundations are being laid for this. We need to fight more than ever against this cruel system that has made it a priority to destroy the will, speech, action and organisation of those who oppose it.

We call upon our people and especially the women of Eastern Kurdistan as well as the Baloch, Persian and Azerbaijani women to organise themselves in all fields against these anti-women policies and to strengthen their self-defence struggle. We call on all women to unite and resist these attacks. If we remain silent on this atrocity today, we invite the massacres of tomorrow.

We call on all women in all four parts of Kurdistan and abroad to step up resistance against occupation, colonialism and male-dominated politics. We declare that women's lives are precious and that women are strong when they organise. This is the only way we can stop the ruthless attacks of fascism and sexism."

The KJK also condemned the barbaric murder of Armenian fighter Anush Apetyan by the Azerbaijani army, noting that this atrocity is similar to the practice in Kurdistan: "On this basis, we once again commemorate all women who have lost their lives to violence, torture and oppression of misogynist states, and we renew our pledge that we will hold this tyrannical, male-dominated world and the system that murdered them accountable."