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.

The Revolutionary Association of Afghan Women (RAWA) welcomed the campaign and said: "On behalf of the oppressed women of Afghanistan, we as RAWA are grateful to the KJK for standing by us in our difficult situation and making our voices heard."

"Fighting together against the patriarchal system"

In an appeal to "our fighting sisters," RAWA said: "Let us continue to fight together against imperialism, fundamentalism and the patriarchal system."

The statement continued: "In more than half a century of war, crime and aggression in Afghanistan, women have been the greatest victims of the policies of imperialism and Islamic fundamentalists, but despite all this suffering, women have continued their courageous struggle and have not given up. As an occupying power that only pursues its own interests and is indifferent to the blood of us Afghans, the US has not hesitated to breed and bring into power the most brutal and bloodthirsty groups to maintain its rule. After the US government and NATO empowered their own Taliban henchmen, the first attack by this marauding and medieval group was aimed at women and they tried to lock all women and girls in their homes. However, a conscious group of Afghan women continued their struggle with loud and determined steps, undeterred by threats of imprisonment, torture, rape, humiliation and insult."

"Inspired by Iranian and Kurdish women"

Afghan women are inspired "by the courage of our fighting Iranian and Kurdish sisters," RAWA said, adding: "Despite being shot, tortured and executed in the terrible prisons of the Welayat-e-Faqih regime, Iranian women take to the streets and continue their defense with even greater determination. The brave Kurdish women, through their armed struggle against ISIS and its supporters, have reminded the world that the only way out of the clutches of IS extremists and their masters is to stand up for women."

Fight against fundamentalism and imperialism

It is undeniable and well-documented that the "criminal Islamic groups in Iran and Afghanistan, despite their false slogan 'neither East nor West,' hail from the heartland of US-British imperialism and intelligence, as well as the West as a whole, and implement Western colonial policies. It must therefore be clear that the fight against the fundamentalists cannot be separated from the fight against US-led imperialism,"  stressed the Afghan Women's Association.

Solidarity among women

RAWA said that the campaign initiated by the KJK for the women in Shengal and Afghanistan is motivating and added: "The Kurdish organizations continue to fight with determination as they face the greatest attacks of internal and external enemies with commendable courage. It is our task to unite the oppressed women in the world against imperialism, for only in this way can we lead our societies towards a democracy based on equality, justice and secularism and liberate women from the cursed culture of patriarchy and tyranny. Long live the unity and solidarity of women workers around the world!"