Close to the Turkish border in the Qamishli countryside, there is a small village with an interesting origin story and unique dynamics. This village is called ‘Jinwar’ and it is a women-only village – only women are allowed to move to this village and while men can visit, they are not permitted to live there. This woman-only village in Rojava is a first of its kind – servicing women from Syria and beyond who prefer to live and work in a community space just with other women. YPT had the opportunity to visit this village on our tour which was the first ever tourism group to enter Rojava!
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Background to the Village
The village of Jinwar was founded in 2017 by NGO groups within North-Eastern Syria. The purpose of the creation of the village was to provide a sanctuary for women who had experienced injustice, or for those who would prefer to move there as opposed to living in a regular village.
Who Lives In Jinwar?
There are many different women who live there – women from all over Syria, Iraq, the wider Middle East and beyond – there are even many women from Europe in this village. Ethnically, women here are Kurdish, Syrian, Yazidi and different European ethnicities. Any woman is able to move there once they complete all of the requirements.
We heard from one woman who had been in the women-only village in Rojava for four months. She had been a victim of domestic violence and abuse by her ex husband. Unfortunately, her sons and family did not accept the divorce and without economic backing, she struggled to live comfortably. After applying for permission, her application to move to Jinwar was accepted and she has been there ever since.
SImilarly, many of the women living there were there because of a lack of family support. Some other women were there despite their families’ protests. Another common reason was the women were widows from the Syrian Civil War. One woman from Aleppo we met was a widow with 3 children – her late husband was a commander with the Kurdish forces and died fighting ISIS in the recent Syrian Civil War.
Some women here, were the victims of the ISIS genocide against the Yazidis.
Women are also permitted to bring their children with them of course, and they can permanently leave the village at any time they like.
How Can You Move There?
The process for moving to the women’s only village in Rojava is actually quite simple. Firstly, a woman seeking to move to Jinwar must complete an application with the organising NGO body. The application just has basic details and asks why the woman would like to move to Jinwar. Once completed, the application will go under review. It is almost a rubber stamp approval. After the approval has been granted, the woman is permitted to move into the village and is assigned a house.
Organisation of the Village
The village has 36 small houses – some with 2 and 3 bedrooms to accommodate families. In Jinwar, they also have a small doctor’s office which practises natural and traditional medicine, a restaurant, bakery and a former academy that suffered damages during the 2022 earthquake. The children now go to a nearby village for school.
Women are taught all different kinds of skills – agriculture procurement, cooking, chores, handiwork and much more. The village is almost completely self sustainable and is subsistence based meaning that their reliance on resources outside the villages is minimal.
Key takeaways From Visiting Jinwar
One of the first questions we were asked by one of the more senior members of the village was “Why do you not have something like this in your country?” It was a great question, one many of us did not have a logical or strong answer to.
The Jinwar women-only village in Rojava is not a village set on segregation of gender or exclusion of men, but rather fosters a community built on sisterhood and mutual experiences. It also bring together women from around the world who have found the village and decided to reside in Jinwar for many different reasons but nonetheless have decided to stay.
Many women were open to sharing their experiences and many were not. Many women at this village did not have a good experience with foreigners as the last large-scale entry into this area by foreigners was by ISIS and other militia groups. Despite this, we felt welcomed here and were encouraged to return.
Jinwar is not just a congregation of sisters, but a message of community.
Tours to Rojava
Would you like to join YPT in Rojava and visit Jinwar? You can check out our available tours, further reading and Independent Tour options by clicking on the link below:
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