The Êzîdxan Women's Units ( ku, Yekinêyen Jinên Êzîdxan or YJÊ) is a

Yazidi Yazidis or Yezidis (; ku, ئێزیدی, translit=Êzidî) are a Kurmanji-speaking endogamous minority group who are indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran. The ma ...

all-women militia formed in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

in 2015 to protect the Yazidi community in the wake of attacks by the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

and other Islamist groups that view Yazidis as pagan infidels. An offshoot of the mixed-gender Yazidi militia

Sinjar Resistance Units Sinjar ( ar, سنجار, Sinjār; ku, شنگال, translit=Şingal, syr, ܫܝܓܪ, Shingar) is a town in the Sinjar District of the Nineveh Governorate in northern Iraq. It is located about five kilometers south of the Sinjar Mountains. Its p ...

(YBŞ), the YJÊ was founded on 5 January 2015 under the original name of Yekîneyên Parastina Jin ê Şengalê ( ku, Sinjar Women’s Protection Units, YJŞ), or YPJ-Sinjar. The militia adopted its current name on 26 October 2015. The organization follows imprisoned

PKK The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of sout ...

leader Abdullah Öcalan's feminist Jineology, and with the broader concept of democratic confederalism as advocated by the

Group of Communities in Kurdistan The Kurdistan Communities Union ( ku, Koma Civakên Kurdistanê, italic=yes, KCK) is a Kurds, Kurdish political organization committed to implementing Abdullah Öcalan's ideology of democratic confederalism.Abdullah Öcalan, Öcalan, Abdullah]Decl ...

(KCK).

Activity

In October 2015, the YJÊ participated in the foundation of the

Sinjar Alliance The Ezidkhan Command for Liberating Sinjar ( ku, Fermandariya Êzîdxana Ji Bo Rizgariya Şengalê), known as the Sinjar Alliance ( ku, Fermandariya Hevbeş a Şengalê, i.e. ''Sinjar Joint Command''), is a joint command of two - initially three - ...

as an all-Yezidi joint commando umbrella structure, along with the Sinjar Resistance Units (YBŞ), the formerly

Peshmerga The Peshmerga ( ku, پێشمەرگه, Pêşmerge, lit=those who face death) is the Kurdish military forces of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq. According to the Constitution of Iraq, the Peshmerga, along with their security subsidiaries, ...

-aligned

Protection Force of Sinjar Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although th ...

(HPŞ) and other, independent Yezidi units committed to the united Yezidi front. Under the joint command of the newly founded Sinjar Alliance, the Êzidxan Women's Units took part in the November 2015 Sinjar offensive.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ezidxan Women's Units Apoist organizations in Iraq Militias in Asia Paramilitary forces of Iraq Anti-ISIL factions in Iraq Sinjar Alliance Religious paramilitary organizations All-female military units and formations Feminism in the Middle East Military units and formations established in 2015 2015 establishments in Iraq Yazidi organizations in Iraq

Activity

See also

References