About TAJÊ
Communal life is built around women. Where women are strong, society is strong.
As an answer to the genocide of August 3rd 2014 and in order to prevent further massacres, Êzidî women have started to organize. At the beginning, in 2015, they acted as a women’s group for supporting and educating women with the goal to strengthen the women’s free will. After more women had come together, they widened their organization. On September 20th, 2016, the foundation of the Freedom’s Movement of Êzidî Women (TAJÊ) was officially proclaimed in a congress. It unites Êzidî women from all ages and different places in the Şengal region. Based on the slogans “Free women, Free society” and “Jin, Jiyan, Azadî”, TAJÊ works on the basis of the thoughts and philosophy of Abdullah Öcalan and his paradigm of Democratic Confederalism and women’s freedom. It sees the liberation of women as the basis for the liberation of the whole society and is therefore at the forefront of the resistance in Şengal.
TAJÊ perceives the equality of men and women, democracy among all peoples and the protection of nature as fundamental. It works for a society, which is independent from state structures, by building its own political, economic, social, defense and legal system in all areas of life. Education and women’s academies are considered as an important basis to strengthen the free will and organization of women.
TAJÊ recognizes the Women’s Protection Units in Şengal (Yekîneyên Jinên Şingalê – YJŞ) as its defense force for the protection of Êzidî women and the whole society. It gives highest priority to the liberation of Êzidî women that have been enslaved by Daesh. In cooperation with the SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces), the Ministry of Women of North and East Syria (NES), the Mala Êzidîyan (“House of the Êzidîs”) in NES and the Êzidî Women Support League in Şengal, around 1.500 Êzidî women have so far been liberated from the hands of Daesh jihadists and reunited with their families.
On Education
Education is crucial for a free life, free thought and free will. TAJÊ therefore considers the field of education of women as one of its major and fundamental duties. Through education, women learn about their faith, their history, their society as well as about their enemies. It is essential for women to know that patriarchy and its sexist mentality is the root of all injustice, oppression and domination. Based on this knowledge women have to develop their own opinions and learn to make decisions against male domination, concerning all parts of their lives.
On Organization
Without organization, neither country nor life can be liberated. Organization is especially important for women. The patriarchal system and male power have always tried to exclude women from social organization in order to bring them under their control. It has tried to separate women from each other and leave them alone under male oppression. As no one can become free by oneself, one of the patriarchy’s biggest achievements is to prevent the organization of women.
Therefore, becoming organized, getting to know each other, not staying alone, and developing a free will are fundamental necessities for women’s liberation. Women who become organized stand united against the system of male domination, tyranny of the state, gangs like Daesh and the fascist mentality.
That’s why, there is a great need for Êzidî women to get organized. When women fight in an organized way on their lands and based on their culture, that has risen through thousand of years, they become free. When women become free, they become beautiful and women who become beautiful are being loved. As TAJÊ, we consider this principle essential for a free and equal society.
TAJÊ organizes itself in the form of communes and establishes self-governing women’s councils throughout Şengal. It established its own committees, such as the committees for education, economy, culture and arts, diplomacy and health. It furthermore builds up relations with women’s organizations of other ethnicity and religions including Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians, and Chaldean Catholics.
On Self-defense
Organized women can achieve their goals through struggle. This struggle is waged under all conditions and circumstances. It is directed against all forms of domination, including mental, social and political domination, oppression in the name of marriage, beatings, murders, insults, rape of women’s bodies, disrespect of women’s will, and any other despicable behavior, that aims to make woman worthless. The organized struggle of women can defeat all of these forms of domination. Every woman has the right to defend herself against violence, be it at home or in public, and against all other attacks on the free will and life of women.
Just as every living being in nature has its own self-defense, it is also the natural right of women to protect themselves. The self-defense against the mindset of male domination through a free will as well as the self-defense against all kinds of massacres, murder, assimilation and femicide through a strong organization are essential for women. A free and democratic life can only be established with the protection of your homeland, your society, your soil, your community, your religion and your culture.
On Struggle
TAJÊ fights against the structure and mentality of the oppressive and authoritarian patriarchal system while rooting itself in the principles of women’s freedom. Furthermore, it resists against sexist attacks by the dominant male mentality as well as by dominant states and organizations. Women are attacked in the family and on the streets. They are suppressed and get banished. They face violence and so called “honor-killings”. TAJÊ confronts this violence directed against women within families, society and at work.
For the self-defense against all these attacks, it is essential that Êzidî women struggle based on a free thought and free will. They must be trained, educated and organized in all fields of life. Creating democratic, free and equal organizations for women must be the basis for all other forms of social organization. TAJÊ is founded on this basis. It participates in all social activities, be it in the fields of politics, economic, culture, diplomacy, law, education, communication or health. This fight is necessary for the protection and freedom of the Êzidî faith, community and homeland. It is necessary to break the history of 74. genocides and femicides (ferman).
It has been said that history has always been written by the dominant male forces. But if you ask the
gods they will tell you that history can be found in the reality of Êzidî women who beautify
themselves with the rays of the sun. They will tell you that from Mitra to Xatûna Fexran and from Zerîfa Osê to Şehîd Bêrîvan Şengalî resistance, freedom and survival has never stopped on the soil of Mesopotamia, the Cradle of Humankind. Until the right history will be written, the resistance of women will continue to arise like fire.
We would like to introduce the truth about the resistance and the reality of the Êzidî women through this website.