The Women of Raqqa Are Rebuilding Their Future
Four years since Raqqa was liberated from ISIS, women are playing a leading role in rebuilding the Syrian city. Their activism shows that socialist feminism isn’t just about gender parity in top jobs — it’s about women taking control of their own lives.
A young woman in Raqqa, northeastern Syria. (Shot from Benedetta Argentieri’s Blooming in the Desert, permission granted)
No one in northeastern Syria thought Raqqa would start to repopulate itself so quickly. Back in October 2017, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) marched into the city and declared it free from jihadists. Yet Raqqa’s liberation had come at a terrible cost. More than 80 percent of the buildings were destroyed. The US-led coalition against ISIS dropped bombs relentlessly for four months, while ISIS left thousands of booby traps behind — making every building left standing a hazard for anyone who dared enter.
There are signs of the war almost everywhere in the city, and many residents prefer not to talk about what they had to endure during ISIS occupation. Yet amid the destruction and pain, a new hope started blooming in Raqqa.
The second-largest city in this corner of the country is now self-governing, as part of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. And the major change — apart from the restoration of basic democratic freedoms — is the role that women now play in politics.
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