RONÎDA HACÎ

Hasakah - On September 9, 2020, the Democratic Union Party (PYD) Women’s Council launched the first phase of their “No to violence against women” campaign with the motto, “Don’t kill women”. In February 2021, the women’s council launched the second phase of the campaign with the motto, “No to conspiracy, occupation, and violence”. Today, the council is going to launch the third phase of the campaign with the motto, “Women’s unity can end violence”. We spoke to Ahin Eli, a member of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) Women’s Council, about the campaign.

“The aim is to break the will of women”

Stating that violence against women is actually violence against society, Ahin Eli said, “The history of women is full of heroism, struggle, and sacrifice. Thanks to their struggle, our revolution has reached this stage. Since the start of the revolution in Rojava, women have been taking part in all spheres of life; they play an important role in politics, social life, military, and diplomatic works. The revolution sparked in Rojava becomes hope for women all around the world. But women in the region continue to face all forms of violence caused by the patriarchal mentality. Women are subjected to all forms of violence under the name of “customs and traditions”. The aim of the patriarchal mentality is to break the will of women in order to realize its interests.”

Pointing out that they update their works according to the process, Ahin Eli said, “For ten years, the revolution in Rojava has been gaining strength even more under the leadership of women. But women still face murder, torture, and persecution. This is a shame. More activities must be carried out to end gender-based violence. We held awareness-raising seminars and meetings during the first phase of our campaign. Due to the Turkish state’s attempts to occupy our region, we launched the second phase of our campaign to draw attention to the conspiracy against leader Abdullah Öcalan, the occupation attempts against NE Syria, and gender-based violence. The conspiracy, occupation, and violence have one aim; to enslave people and realize their own interests.”

Message for unity

Speaking about the importance of women's unity in this process, Ahin Eli said, “In April, 10 women were killed in the Cizirê Region. For this reason, we decided to launch the third phase of our campaign. Today, we are going to launch the third phase of the campaign with the motto, “Women’s unity can end violence”. We have been going through a sensitive and important process. A dirty policy has been carried out against women. They use all kinds of violence against women because the revolution was realized with the labor and sacrifice of women. In order to respond to this process, we should be united to protect our values. We can end the occupation, conspiracy, and gender-based violence if we unite.”

Ahin Eli also told us that they will keep strengthening their struggle, “We, as young people, are responsible for changing our society. Our aim is to ensure gender equality in our society because women are society and young people are the dynamic of society.”