It has been 11 years since ISIS launched attacks on Şengal on August 3, 2014. Thousands of people, including women and children, were killed as the Iraqi central government, the Kurdistan Regional Government, and the international community largely remained passive. Many women were abducted and sold in markets; children were forced into combat or made suicide bombers. The fate of many abductees remains unknown in what Êzidîs call the "74th Genocide."

 

At just 14 years old, Henan Şengalî witnessed these horrors firsthand, carrying the trauma of massacre, abduction, destroyed families, and silent world indifference. She recalls being deeply affected by a child abandoned by their family, lost in the dust, who they thought was dead but was still alive.

 

A TURNING POINT: MEETING THE WOMAN GUERRILLAS

 

During the attacks, Henan encountered a unit sent by the PKK to protect Êzidîs, including woman fighters. This meeting marked the beginning of her transformation. Witnessing women who resisted instead of fleeing inspired her to ask, "Can we also take up arms?"

 

She emphasized: "There was no power to protect us. Thousands were taken captive, and many mothers were killed in front of our eyes. We fled to Mount Şengal and hid for eight days."

 

FROM FEAR TO RESISTANCE

 

Henan and many Êzidî women later answered this question by founding the Êzidî Women’s Freedom Movement (TAJÊ). She described how, before the genocide, armed women were considered shameful, but today women participate in military, institutional, and political roles. "We have been reborn," she stated.

 

Active in TAJÊ today, Henan Şengalî called on young women not to submit to oppression but to organize and defend Şengal, reminding them of the great sacrifices made and saying: "Now it’s our turn."

 

MA / Zeynep Durgut