Kurdish Women Beyond Bars: Stories of Resistance from Turkish, Iraqi, Iranian, and Syrian Prisons

Kurdish women’s stories are still mostly overlooked in global prison literature, even though the Kurdish people have spent a century fighting for independence and resisting violence, genocide, and forced assimilation by the four countries that control Kurdistan. This new collection brings together accounts from incarcerated Kurdish women in all four regions of Kurdistan and the diaspora, sharing their experiences of survival and resistance. The women come from different places, backgrounds, and walks of life, and each describes what it was like to be jailed in Turkey, Syria, Iran, or Iraq.

Kurdish Women Behind Bars covers several generations and crosses borders, starting in the late 1970s and continuing to today. It shares the experiences of women who lived through different times of political struggle and resistance. The stories focus on imprisonment, torture, and resistance, and show how prison became a place for learning and political growth. They also honor the strength and determination of women who stood up to oppression and colonial violence as part of the larger Kurdish struggle.