EVÎN ZENDA

Shengal- On August 3, 2014, ISIS attacked Shengal. They killed thousands of people and abducted five thousand women and children. While the whole world just watched the genocide against Yazidis, the Kurdistan Region and Iraqi governments left the Yazidis alone. After the liberation of Shengal from ISIS, the Yazidis, who were left defenseless, formed their own self-defense units and built civil, military, and women's organizations.

The Yazidi Free Women's Movement (TAJÊ) was founded on September 20, 2016, to support Yazidi women and children. The TAJÊ also aims to save all women abducted by ISIS. Sebiha Sebri, Spokesperson of the TAJÊ, spoke to NuJINHA about their plans for 2022.

“Attacks failed”

Stating that TAJÊ carried out many works in 2021, Sebiha Sebri said, “In 2021, the attacks on the Yazidi community continued. But these attacks failed thanks to the efforts of the community, especially women. The agreement signed by the Iraqi government and the Kurdish Regional Government on October 9 failed. We lost many of our friends in the protests against the agreement. We carried out many activities and actions against the agreement.”

“Women showed great interest in training”

Sebiha Sebri highlighted how the TAJÊ attaches great importance to training workshops. “In 2021, we organized more than 10 training workshops. During the training workshops, we discussed the history of the Yazidi and women's struggle, free co-life, and many issues. We, as the TAJÊ, think that these training workshops are important in order to build a free and democratic society. We also organized self-defense training to help women become stronger against attacks. Women received military training. All women showed great interest in training.”

“Since the first day of the foundation of the movement, we have been trying to reach all women,” Sebiha Sebri said, “We achieved significant and great gains this year. We founded assemblies in all villages. The Yazidi women have already taken part in all organizations. We also attended the congress of the Shengal Democratic Autonomy Assembly. At the congress, we discussed how to solve the problems faced by our society; we also make decisions to build a free Shengal.”

General elections in Iraq

Speaking about the general elections held in Iraq in October, Sebiha Sebri said, “We worked hard for the elections held in Shengal. We wanted the candidate of the Yazidi Freedom and Democracy Party (PADE) to enter the parliament. Although we couldn’t send our candidate to the parliament due to election fraud in Shengal, we saw how our people had high hopes for PADÊ.”

22 women were killed by men

Speaking about the rate of femicide in the region, Sebiha Sebri said, “We aimed to end femicide and suicides among women in 2021 but we couldn’t. In 2021, 22 women were killed or driven to suicide. In 2022, we will try to reach more women. All women should see TAJÊ as their home. In 2022, we will try to hold our congress. We will carry out more works under the umbrella of the TAJÊ to prevent child marriage, femicide, and gender-based violence.”