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Wimmin from liberated Manbij join Kurd forces
Manbij – Zainab Ali is the first Arab woman to join the Asayish security forces in Manbij city, in northern Syria. The unprecedented step is considered a revolution on the conservative traditions in this area, traditions that have been for long seen as violating women’s freedoms by keeping them indoors.Zainab says she joined the Asayish forces to fight for the freedom of Arab women in the conservative society of Manbij. “I am proud to join the Asayish forces, especially after suffering a lot of suppression in my private life. Being a part of those forces would give me the opportunity to protect other women in my society and fight for their rights,” she told ARA News. “Before the liberation of Manbij, women were extremely oppressed. However, now the women’s rights are a priority for the local administration.” More that 50 women have so far joined the recently established Asayish police in Mnabij. The Asayish was first launched by the Kurdish Self-Administration in northern Syria. The number of female police officers is increasing, as Arab women in Manbij have been looking at Kurdish female fighters of Rojava as a symbol. “Now we have more equality between men and women. This was our main demand,” Fatima Khalaf, a member of the Manbij Traffic Police, told ARA News. The women inside the Asayish Department are performing different tasks in various positions, such as conducting investigations, supervising police work and dismantling explosives that have been left by ISIS. It’s worth mentioning that when ISIS was in control of Manbij, the jihadi group used to treat women in a degrading and brutal way. This has led dozens of women to participate in running the city after its liberation from ISIS at the hand of the Kurdish-Arab alliance of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in August. Women are now responsible for protecting the city and administrating the people’s affairs side by side with men. “Under ISIS, women in Manbij have suffered a lot. We had no basic rights. Women had to stay indoors. Now the situation is completely different. Every woman has the right to criticise and actively participate in the society,” Fatima told ARA News. “I feel myself free of all the traditional constraints now.” Video report at the link Posted by: badanov 2016-10-13 |
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