YPJ Integration and Women’s Rights in Syria: A Conversation with YPJ Commander Rohilat Afrin

When: Tuesday, June 16 @ 11:00 AM Washington, DC / 5:00 PM Europe / 6:00 PM Syria. Please note the updated time. 

Where: This is a virtual briefing. Please click here to register.

As the integration of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) into the Syrian Transitional Government (STG) progresses, the two sides remain divided over the role and status of women in the new state.

The SDF and DAANES achieved some of the highest levels of women’s participation in security and governance in the region. Women held 50% of leadership positions in DAANES civil structures and were guaranteed no less than 40% of seats in all of its deliberative bodies. The Social Contract included a non-negotiable right to equality in public and private life.

But the role of women in northeast Syria’s armed forces attracted global attention. Members of the Women’s Defense Units (YPJ), a founding component of the SDF, served as front-line combatants and senior commanders of international counter-ISIS operations.

The January 29th integration agreement between the SDF and the STG stipulated that SDF fighters would be able to integrate into four new brigades of the Syrian army. However, the government is refusing to allow any women to join the armed forces– instead offering the YPJ a role in the Ministry of Interior. This is despite a lack of any legal restriction on women’s presence in the armed forces and a Constitutional Declaration that should, in theory, support equality in state institutions.

The Syrian army is already under scrutiny for violence against Druze, Alawite, and Kurdish women and for the promotion of figures sanctioned for crimes that include sexual and gender-based violence. Excluding the YPJ cements dangerous patterns that could harm stability, security and social cohesion.

In this virtual, on-the-record conversation, YPJ Commander in Chief Rohilat Afrin and Spokeswoman Ruksen Mohamed will lay out the state of integration talks, the importance of women’s participation in the armed forces, and the YPJ’s outlook on women’s equality in the new Syria.

(Photo: Hawar News)