Speakers

Meghan Bodette is Director of Research at the Kurdish Peace Institute in
Washington, D.C. She received a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service
from Georgetown University, where she concentrated in international
law, institutions, and ethics. She has briefed officials from governments
and international institutions on her research relating to the rights and
status of women under various political and military actors in the Syrian
conflict.

Nilüfer Koç born in Ardahan, northern Kurdistan, is member of the
Executive Council and spokesperson for the Commission on Foreign
Relations of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK). Her current
primary political focus is the improvement of national dialogue amongst
political parties and civil society organisations in Kurdistan. Parallel to
national unity efforts, Nilüfer is also active in the international arena
in raising awareness of the right to self-determination for the Kurdish
people and all ethnic and religious components of Kurdistan.

Mariam Rawi is a member of the Revolutionary Association of the Women
of Afghanistan (RAWA). As a refugee child in Pakistan, she was deprived
of an education until she had the opportunity to attend a RAWA school.
 ere, she not only learned to read and write, but also became conscious
of the need to fight for women’s rights. She joined RAWA in 1996 and
has been an active member of the group ever since, participating in its
political, diplomatic, cultural, education and social activities.

Aura Lolita Chávez Ixcaquic is a member of of the Consejo de Pueblos
K’iche’s (CPK), a movement of anti-patriarchal, anti-imperialist, anticolonial,
anti-neoliberal, anti-extractivist peoples and communities that
was founded in 2007 to confront the effects of the Free Trade Agreement
between Central America and the United States (FTAA). In 2017, she was
a  nalist for the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize. She is from the
original Mayan people in Ixim Ulew (corn land), misnamed Guatemala.

Ariel Salleh is a member of the Global University for Sustainability; Visiting Professor at Nelson Mandela University; former Associate in Political Economy, University of Sydney and Fellow in Post-Growth Societies, Friedrich Schiller University Jena. By revaluing care skills and Indigenous knowledges, Salleh challenges justice and sustainability discourses from the neoliberal ‘green economy’ to eco-socialism. See Ecofeminism as Politics (2017/1997), Eco-Su ciency & Global Justice (2009), Pluriverse (2019) and numerous articles: www.arielsalleh.info.

Genevieve Vaughan is an independent researcher, author and editor of several books, founder of the multicultural all-woman Foundation for a Compassionate Society (1988-2005), the temple to Ancient Egyptian Goddess Sekhmet in the Nevada desert near the nuclear test site (1992 – present), and the International Feminists for a Gi Economy network (2001-present). Her websites are www.gift-economy.com and www.MaternalGiftEconomyMovement.org, where you can sign up for free bi-weekly Zoom salons on all aspects of the gift paradigm as the radical alternative to Patriarchal Capitalism.

Kavita Krishnan

Rahila Gupta

Niemat Kuku Mohamed

Kavita Krishnan is a feminist activist with the All India Progressive
Women’s Association. She had previously served as a politburo and central
committee member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist)
Liberation, and is known for her activism against sexual violence. She is
the author of the book Fearless Freedom.

Rahila Gupta is a freelance journalist, writer, activist and longstanding member of Southall Black Sisters, one of the UK‘s leading organisations for Black and minority women. They have spearheaded many important campaigns on domestic violence, for example on abused women who kill, and on changes to immigration rules. Her books include a collection of essays she edited, From Home- breakers to Jailbreakers: Southall Black Sisters (2003). Her articles have been published in the Guardian, New Humanist, New Internationalist and openDemocracy, among other magazines, journals and websites. She travelled to Rojava and is a patron of Peace in Kurdistan.

Niemat Kuku Mohamed is a women’s rights activist and development expert. She is the founder of the Gender Centre for Research and Training in Sudan. She has more than 25 years of research experience and her work has been published in various books and journals.

Dilar Dirik

Dr. Anjila al-Maamari

Marta Dillon

Dilar Dirik is an activist, political sociologist, and writer. She is currently researching and teaching at the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford. She is author of the book “The Kurdish Women’s Movement: History, Theory, Practice” (Pluto Press, 2022) and she is active in the Kurdish women’s movement in Europe.

Dr. Anjila Sultan Al-Maamari is an academic professor specialising in mental health and psychological support. She is a consultant on issues including citizenship, democracy, peacebuilding, and women’s rights. She is an expert in qualitative research studies and preparing general policy papers. She is a co-founder of the Civil Conglomerate for Taiz Youth, of which she is currently the director, as well as the co-founder and head of the peace portfolio for the Woman for Yemen Network.

Marta Dillon, from Argentina, is a writer, journalist and lesbian feminist
activist. She is editor of the las12 supplement of Página 12, host of the
radio program Pasamos Todes and member of the Colectivo NiUnaMenos.

Elif Kaya

Jules Falquet

Benedetta Argentieri

Elif Kaya is a member of the Jineoloji Academy and is on the board of Jineoloji journal. She was arrested for her political activities while she was a student and spent many years in prison. A er her release in 2003, she worked in different aspects of the Kurdish women’s movement. In 2009, she was arrested again for her political activities. In 2014, she took part in the publication of the book Jineoloji Discussions, alongside other imprisoned women. Her articles appear in different magazines and newspapers, especially Jineoloji.

Jules Falquet is currently a Full Professor in Philosophy at Paris 8 St Denis University, in France. She is a lesbian and feminist activist and has lived and worked in Mexico, El Salvador and other parts of Latin America and the Caribbean. She is a member of the Laboratoire d’études et de recherches sur les Logiques Contemporaines de la Philosophie (Study and Research Center for the Contemporary Logics of Philosophy, LLCP). Her latest book is Imbrication : Femmes, race et classe dans les mouvements sociaux (2020).

Benedetta Argentieri is an Italian journalist, writer, and documentary film director. Since 2014 she has been working in the Middle East, writing about war, and focusing on women and their struggles. Her latest film, The Matchmaker, was presented at the Venice Film Festival.

Jade Daniels

Deniz Abukan

Asya Abdullah

Jade Daniels is an organiser, narrative strategist, author, interdisciplinary
and digital artist based in Long Beach, California. She currently serves as
Communications Manager and primary graphic designer for the Black
LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project (@officialBLMP). Jade also specialises in
herbalism and traditional medicine-making, serves as an EMT – certi ed
community medic and trainer, and is a white belt student in Ra- Life
Urban Self Defense in community survival and defence techniques.

Deniz Abukan is an activist with the Free Women’s Movement (TJA). She got involved in women’s activism while a student at Dicle University. She was imprisoned for seven and a half years for her work, and has been working with the TJA since she was released.

Asya Abdullah is the Co-Chair of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in
North and East Syria. She has held the Co-Chair position before, and has
also served as the Co-Chair of the Movement for a Democratic Society
(TEV-DEM), as a member of the Executive Council of Kongra Star, and as
a co-founder of the Women’s Council of North and East Syria. When ISIS
attacked Kobane in 2014, she took part in the defence of the city. She also
plays an important role in international and intra-Kurdish diplomacy.

Vilma Rocío Almendra Quiguanás

Heza Sengal

Havin Guneser

Vilma Rocîo Almendra Quiguanás is a founder of and active participant
in the “Fabric of Communication and External Relations for Truth and
Life” of the “Association of Cabildos del Norte de Cauca-ACIN”. She is
currently a member of “Pueblos en Camino”, an initiative that seeks to
weave resistance and autonomy between peoples and processes. She holds
a Master’s in Sociology from the Meritorious Autonomous University of
Puebla, Mexico. She is the daughter of a Nasa mother and a Misak father,
both from the Kauka (called Colombia by the invaders).

Featured in the documentary Heza (Strength), Heza engal is a Yezidi
activist and survivor of genocide who fought against ISIS after escaping
from the group.

Havin Guneser is an engineer, journalist and woman’s rights activist who
writes and speaks extensively on the political thought of Abdullah Öcalan.
She is one of the spokespersons of the “Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan-
Peace in Kurdistan’’ international initiative. She is the translator of several
of Öcalan’s books and the author of The Art of Freedom.

Haskar Kirmizigul

Montes Jovita Mataro

Boushra Ali

Haskar Kirmizigul has been a women’s rights activist for more than 20
years. She has worked as a journalist with Sorgul Women’s Journal and
with Roj TV. Her work has been published by Kurdish newspapers like
Yeni Özgür Politika, Newaya Jin and Komun Academy and has been
translated into various languages. She has given lectures on jineoloji
and the Kurdish women’s movement in European and Latin American
countries. She is currently a member of the editorial board of Jineoloji
journal and a producer of a biweekly program focused on jineoloji aired
on JIN TV.

Jovita Mataro Montes, or “Obeth” to her family and friends, has more
than 20 years of experience handling cases of violence against women and
children. She is the head psychologist for psychosocial counselling of the
GABRIELA Advocacy Program and Services for Women and Children
Program. For two terms, she has held the position of GABRIELA Deputy
Secretary-General for External Affairs.

Boushra Ali is president of the JÎN Women’s Association and member of the presidency of the NADA Alliance (Regional Democratic Women’s Alliance in the Middle East and North Africa). She is a Kurd from Syria, a civil engineer graduate, writer and translator.

Gemeinsam Kaempfen

Irem Gelkus

Ñizol Lonko Juana Calfunao

Gemeinsam Kämpfen, or “Fighting Together” was launched on 25
November 2017 as a “feminist campaign for self-determination and
democratic autonomy”. The aim of the campaign was to make the ideas of
the revolution of the self-governing region of Northern and Eastern Syria
better known in Germany. Our focus is on an internationalist connection
with the women’s movement.

Irem Gelkus is the Communications and Publications Officer at the
Women’s Human Rights – New Solutions Association. She holds a degree
in sociology from Bogaziçi University. For more than  ve years, she has
participated in platforms and organizations in the feminist movement and women’s movement, including Women Strong Together, the Implement
the Istanbul Convention campaign group, Cracked Ground, and the
March 8th Feminist Night March and November 25thInternational
Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women March preparation
commissions.

Juana Calfunao Paillalef is Lonko of Lof Juan Paillalef, (Commune
of Cunco, Araucanía Region, Chile). She has a prominent role in the
resistance movement of the Mapuche people, in defence of her ancestral
lands and in opposition to human rights violations committed against her
community by companies that carry out development and infrastructure
projects in the region.