The structure of Kurdish society is in part also reflected in the life of the guerrillas. So relations between men had women and the roles played by the sexes were determined along traditional lines. Men and women were kept strictly segregated, as if by a wall. They were brought up so that the women always had to obey the man while the man dominated the women in his capacity as the one who gave the orders. The strong patriarchal oppression of Kurdish women in Kurdistan is also a consequence of the despotism perpetrated by the colonialists.
Kurdish women see their fight for freedom reinforced by Kurdistan's liberation movement.
As the struggle has developed the number of women involved has grown continually. Of course, here too they were confronted with the classical social problems. Many of them were still in the grip of tradition and patriarchy. The encounter of these two different worlds influences life among the guerrillas. Our party, and especially our General Secretary, Abdullah Ocalan, analysed this problem at the very beginning of the liberation struggle and has taken important steps towards resolving it.