Dilan Babat / JINHA

WAN – “We have maintained our struggle against male-dominant mindset for years. Our struggle will be difficult but economically, women should become free,” said Besra Sami, who is shopkeeper in Bahçesaray despite the impositions of the society.

The women, who don’t accept the roles imposed on them by masculine mindset in Kurdistan, have maintained their struggle against feudal system. Besra Sami, who lives in the Bahçeşehir district of Van, is working as a shopkeeper in the district despite all the pressures by refusing to all roles of women that the society imposed. Besra first turned one of her room into clothing shop despite her limited opportunities. She continues to work despite all discourses of people around her like, “Women should not go out, and they should serve the men.”

Besra said mostly of her customers are the women, who live in the villages around the district and these women are subjected to insult of their husbands. Besra stated that the men tried to prevent the women to buy clothes from her, “The male-dominant mindset did everything in order to prevent the women. But I didn’t give up and tried to break this mindset. When the women, who work in organizations in the district, began to buy their clothes from me, the women in the villages saw that and they also began to buy their clothes from me.”

Besra said she opened a shop in city center following her economic station became better; however, she was subjected to insult of men shopkeepers. Besra said, “The women, who live here, didn’t know go out and by their clothes by themselves before I opened this shop. The women are now trying to do something with more confident. Some of people should be a model for them. There is a feudal system in this region. Breaking of this mindset to some extent takes my years; however, I will continue the struggle until breaking it completely.”

At the end, Besra said, “Women should believe in themselves. We have maintained our struggle against male-dominant mindset for years. Our struggle will be difficult but economically, women should become free.”

(dc/dk/gd)