KURDISH
Women Fighting Patriarchy and Oppression in Northern Iraq
A photo essay
By Paul Trowbridge
A photo essay
By Paul Trowbridge
October 15, 2023
Source: Originally published by Z. Feel free to share widely.
In Sinjar, a small town in Northern Iraq, the consequences of genocide and war linger heavy. Nearly a decade ago, in August of 2014, the Islamic State group (ISIS) carried out genocide against the Yazidi religious minority based in, and around, Sinjar. To this day, the town lies in rubble and its people scattered in camps for the displaced. Those who have returned face numerous challenges and obstacles as they struggle with the legacy of genocide. ISIS targeted Yazidis, Christains and Shia Muslims during their campaign of violence, but no other group was targeted as brutally as the Yazidis. During the genocide, ISIS fighters killed approximately 10,000 Yazidi people and enslaved and sex trafficked approximately 10,000 women and girls. More than 3,000 of the enslaved women and girls remain missing. Nearly 10 years on, 350,000 Yazidi people remain displaced living in camps for internally displaced persons (IDP).
Yazidis are a religious minority from northern Iraq, and Sinjar and its surroundings are their ancestral homeland. Yazidism, the religion of the Yazidis, is an ancient syncretic faith that combines elements of Zoroastrianism, Islam and Christianity. Yazidis have faced persecution and discrimination throughout their history because they believe in their own religion. Yazidis count 74 genocides perpetrated against them. However, none of the previous genocides are comparable to the brutality of the atrocities perpetrated against the Yazidis by the Islamic State group.
Against this backdrop of genocide and violence, the Sinjar Resistance Units (abbreviated YBS, and the all-women division abbreviated YJS) organized to fight ISIS and protect the Yazidi community. The YBS-YJS is a Yazidi armed group, based in Sinjar. Initially, the YBS-YJS was trained and armed by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) so that Yazidi people could protect themselves and fight against the Islamic State group. The PKK is a left-wing insurgent group, rooted in the ideology of revolutionary Marxism and decolonial independence struggle. The YBS-YJS also received support and training from the People’s Protections Units/Women’s Protection Units (YPG/YPJ). The YPG/YPJ are armed Kurdish-led opposition groups based in northeast Syria that also share the ideology of the PKK. The YBS-YJS, too, shares the Marxist-based ideology of the leftist Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
The YBS-YJS played a central role in the liberation of Sinjar from ISIS occupation. YBS-YJS fighters then continued into Rojava and finally to Raqqa, where they also played a central role in the liberation of Raqqa. Raqqa, a town in northeast Syria, was the epicenter of ISIS slave markets and sex-trafficking operations. The YBS-YJS does not exclusively work for the Yazidi community. The YBS-YJS provided assistance and humanitarian aid to Arab villages and fought for Arab villagers throughout the Sinjar Region. During the war against ISIS, the YBS-YJS fought side-by-side with Arab tribes to liberate the region from ISIS control.
For YBS-YJS members, the defining characteristic of their organization, and their struggle, is their ideology. During my interviews with women leaders and members of the group, they all told me that the organization’s position on women’s liberation and the role of women in fighting patriarchy and oppression was the key factor for their participation in the group. Women participants told me in interviews that through their participation in the group, they “found their strength.” They told me that through organizing and taking up arms against ISIS, “women [were] protecting women.” They saw that by Yazidi women taking up arms against ISIS, it was also revolution against patriarchy and oppression. They carry these convictions today while they continue their participation in the YBS-YJS. They told me their participation in the YBS-YJS is deeply rooted in them because of the Ideology of the group. While there are other armed groups in the Sinjar region, the pro-minority and pro-woman position of the leftist Kurdish groups drew Yazidis, while at the same time they eschewed other groups because they felt the other group’s ideologies and political positions did not resonate with their lived experience. The women leaders and members I interviewed said they continue to participate in the YBS-YJS because the Yazidi community is constantly under threat of recurrent violence, and the problems facing the Yazidi community in Sinjar continue, and so they continue to struggle. One of the principal conclusions from my interviews with the YBS-YJS was the confluence of their experience with gender-based violence and genocide coincided with an ideology of anti-patriarchy and anti-oppression that was the key factor in organizing and mobilizing Yazidi community and remains the most salient factor in their continued participation in the group.
In Sinjar, a small town in Northern Iraq, the consequences of genocide and war linger heavy. Nearly a decade ago, in August of 2014, the Islamic State group (ISIS) carried out genocide against the Yazidi religious minority based in, and around, Sinjar. To this day, the town lies in rubble and its people scattered in camps for the displaced. Those who have returned face numerous challenges and obstacles as they struggle with the legacy of genocide. ISIS targeted Yazidis, Christains and Shia Muslims during their campaign of violence, but no other group was targeted as brutally as the Yazidis. During the genocide, ISIS fighters killed approximately 10,000 Yazidi people and enslaved and sex trafficked approximately 10,000 women and girls. More than 3,000 of the enslaved women and girls remain missing. Nearly 10 years on, 350,000 Yazidi people remain displaced living in camps for internally displaced persons (IDP).
Yazidis are a religious minority from northern Iraq, and Sinjar and its surroundings are their ancestral homeland. Yazidism, the religion of the Yazidis, is an ancient syncretic faith that combines elements of Zoroastrianism, Islam and Christianity. Yazidis have faced persecution and discrimination throughout their history because they believe in their own religion. Yazidis count 74 genocides perpetrated against them. However, none of the previous genocides are comparable to the brutality of the atrocities perpetrated against the Yazidis by the Islamic State group.
Against this backdrop of genocide and violence, the Sinjar Resistance Units (abbreviated YBS, and the all-women division abbreviated YJS) organized to fight ISIS and protect the Yazidi community. The YBS-YJS is a Yazidi armed group, based in Sinjar. Initially, the YBS-YJS was trained and armed by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) so that Yazidi people could protect themselves and fight against the Islamic State group. The PKK is a left-wing insurgent group, rooted in the ideology of revolutionary Marxism and decolonial independence struggle. The YBS-YJS also received support and training from the People’s Protections Units/Women’s Protection Units (YPG/YPJ). The YPG/YPJ are armed Kurdish-led opposition groups based in northeast Syria that also share the ideology of the PKK. The YBS-YJS, too, shares the Marxist-based ideology of the leftist Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
The YBS-YJS played a central role in the liberation of Sinjar from ISIS occupation. YBS-YJS fighters then continued into Rojava and finally to Raqqa, where they also played a central role in the liberation of Raqqa. Raqqa, a town in northeast Syria, was the epicenter of ISIS slave markets and sex-trafficking operations. The YBS-YJS does not exclusively work for the Yazidi community. The YBS-YJS provided assistance and humanitarian aid to Arab villages and fought for Arab villagers throughout the Sinjar Region. During the war against ISIS, the YBS-YJS fought side-by-side with Arab tribes to liberate the region from ISIS control.
For YBS-YJS members, the defining characteristic of their organization, and their struggle, is their ideology. During my interviews with women leaders and members of the group, they all told me that the organization’s position on women’s liberation and the role of women in fighting patriarchy and oppression was the key factor for their participation in the group. Women participants told me in interviews that through their participation in the group, they “found their strength.” They told me that through organizing and taking up arms against ISIS, “women [were] protecting women.” They saw that by Yazidi women taking up arms against ISIS, it was also revolution against patriarchy and oppression. They carry these convictions today while they continue their participation in the YBS-YJS. They told me their participation in the YBS-YJS is deeply rooted in them because of the Ideology of the group. While there are other armed groups in the Sinjar region, the pro-minority and pro-woman position of the leftist Kurdish groups drew Yazidis, while at the same time they eschewed other groups because they felt the other group’s ideologies and political positions did not resonate with their lived experience. The women leaders and members I interviewed said they continue to participate in the YBS-YJS because the Yazidi community is constantly under threat of recurrent violence, and the problems facing the Yazidi community in Sinjar continue, and so they continue to struggle. One of the principal conclusions from my interviews with the YBS-YJS was the confluence of their experience with gender-based violence and genocide coincided with an ideology of anti-patriarchy and anti-oppression that was the key factor in organizing and mobilizing Yazidi community and remains the most salient factor in their continued participation in the group.
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