The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is founded by Abdullah Öcalan and others in Fis village, Turkey. From the outset, gender equality is embedded in its ideology — an unusual stance for a liberation movement of the era.
Kurdish women begin forming their own armed units within the Kurdish resistance movement, laying the groundwork for what would become the YPJ.
The US-led invasion of Iraq dismantles Ba'athist rule. Iraqi Kurdistan begins consolidating autonomous governance. Kurdish women gain greater rights in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
The Women's Protection Units (Yekîneyên Parastina Jin — YPJ) is formally established in Rojava (northern Syria) as the all-female fighting force of the Syrian Democratic Forces. Women command their own units with full military autonomy.
The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (Rojava) declares self-governance based on democratic confederalism, with gender equality enshrined in its constitution. Women co-chair every governing body.
ISIS declares a caliphate across large parts of Syria and Iraq. It begins systematic enslavement, rape and murder of Yazidi Kurdish women in the Sinjar massacre — one of the worst atrocities of the 21st century.
ISIS attacks the Yazidi Kurdish community in Sinjar, Iraq. Up to 5,000 Yazidi men are killed and over 7,000 women and girls are taken into sexual slavery. Kurdish forces and the YPJ begin rescue operations.
ISIS launches a massive assault on the Kurdish city of Kobanî (Ayn al-Arab) on the Syrian-Turkish border. YPJ and YPG fighters, outnumbered and outgunned, refuse to surrender.
YPJ fighter Arin Mirkan detonates her explosives on Mishtenur Hill to prevent ISIS from overrunning Kobanî. Her act of self-sacrifice becomes a global symbol of Kurdish resistance.
After 134 days of fighting, Kurdish forces backed by US-led coalition air strikes liberate Kobanî from ISIS. The YPJ's role is internationally recognised. The battle is considered the turning point against ISIS.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), with significant YPJ participation, liberate Raqqa — ISIS's self-declared capital — ending the territorial caliphate in Syria.
Turkish forces and allied Syrian factions attack the Kurdish canton of Afrin in a military operation. Thousands of Kurdish civilians are displaced. YPJ fighters defend the region.
The last ISIS territorial enclave at Baghouz falls. Kurdish-led SDF forces are credited with bearing the main ground burden of defeating ISIS. YPJ fighters are present at the final battle.
Jina Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman from Saqqez, Iran, dies in the custody of Iran's morality police. Her Kurdish name, Jina — meaning life — becomes a rallying cry.
Mass protests erupt across Iran and 160 countries. Women burn their hijabs, cut their hair in public. The Kurdish slogan Jin, Jiyan, Azadî — Woman, Life, Freedom — becomes the anthem of a global movement.
Despite violent suppression — over 500 protesters killed, thousands arrested — the Jin, Jiyan, Azadî movement continues to inspire activism worldwide, particularly among the Kurdish diaspora and Iranian civil society.