In the plains of northeast Syria, there is a safe haven void of men built by women who emerged from years of harsh conditions living under ISIS threats.
It is a village called Jinwar, Kurdish for “Women’s Land,” which is home to more than 30 women who work together to build a life that is free of capitalism and patriarchy.
In the village, there is no central power figure, and men are allowed to visit during specific hours and cannot stay overnight. Women of different backgrounds live together to build a self-sufficient way of life. They eat together, teach each other English, grow food and live in mud-brick homes they built together.
However, this feminist utopia is under threat. Trump’s support of the Turkish military offensive threatens Jinwar and the entire Kurdish region in Syria that people have spent years attempting to build a free society to live in. The Women of Jinwar are taking a stand.
War is draining and devastating to women. ISIS used rape, forced marriage and kidnapping as tools to exert women from their power. Some women who live in the village of Jinwar fled from displacement, rape and imprisonment from the hands of ISIS in war conditions.
30-year-old Fatma Emin told CNN “Every woman was hurt. Every woman was lost, but Jinwar brought them together.”
For women who have survived battle zones and heard bullets and gunpowder, Jinwar is a place to comfortably live and start the healing process.
Jinwar is less than three miles from the Turkish border. Bombs are drawing closer, and drones constantly circle the region. The village has been under threat for a while, but it was temporarily evacuated on Monday. Women didn’t know when they could return to Jinwar, not knowing what could happen the next day. One thing for sure is that the women of Jinwar will not give up their hard work for a better life.
Richard Hall / The Independent
Lessons
Syrian Female Utopia Under Threat of Extinction
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In the plains of northeast Syria, there is a safe haven void of men built by women who emerged from years of harsh conditions living under ISIS threats.
It is a village called Jinwar, Kurdish for “Women’s Land,” which is home to more than 30 women who work together to build a life that is free of capitalism and patriarchy.
In the village, there is no central power figure, and men are allowed to visit during specific hours and cannot stay overnight. Women of different backgrounds live together to build a self-sufficient way of life. They eat together, teach each other English, grow food and live in mud-brick homes they built together.
However, this feminist utopia is under threat. Trump’s support of the Turkish military offensive threatens Jinwar and the entire Kurdish region in Syria that people have spent years attempting to build a free society to live in. The Women of Jinwar are taking a stand.
War is draining and devastating to women. ISIS used rape, forced marriage and kidnapping as tools to exert women from their power. Some women who live in the village of Jinwar fled from displacement, rape and imprisonment from the hands of ISIS in war conditions.
30-year-old Fatma Emin told CNN “Every woman was hurt. Every woman was lost, but Jinwar brought them together.”
For women who have survived battle zones and heard bullets and gunpowder, Jinwar is a place to comfortably live and start the healing process.
Jinwar is less than three miles from the Turkish border. Bombs are drawing closer, and drones constantly circle the region. The village has been under threat for a while, but it was temporarily evacuated on Monday. Women didn’t know when they could return to Jinwar, not knowing what could happen the next day. One thing for sure is that the women of Jinwar will not give up their hard work for a better life.