The self-declared autonomous Kurdish state of Rojava is situated on the northern borders of Syria. It is a region of 4 million Kurds and is an oasis of peace and relative prosperity in an area where bloodshed and civil war reign supreme.

Rojava managed to drive out Syrian forces in 2011 when the civil war broke out, but it mainly came to the attention of international media when its military successfully defended the besieged town of Kobani against the terrifying and previously though ‘invincible’ hordes of ISIS militants.

State of Rojava shown in purple 

An interesting thing about the state of Rojava is that it is defended by a female army. The ‘YJA Star’ unit, or as it is known in English ‘Union of Free Women’ is backed by PYD and YPG militias, the Syrian affiliates of the PKK. Even more interesting is that Rojava is a feminist state and has adopted a constitution for its newly born democracy, which provides that each municipality within Rojava must elect Kurdish, Arab and Christian representatives, one of which has to be a woman.

Beauty and determination

Two ‘‘Union of Free Women’ unit fighers with the ‘amazons” flag in the background