Voices of Resistance: War, Patriarchy, and the Power of Kurdish Women – A Conversation with Bjeen Alhassan

In this episode of Conversations on Genocide, host Franzie sits down with Bjeen Alhassan, founder of the NGO Transfer of Knowledge (TOK), to explore the intersections of gender, genocide, and diaspora through the lens of Kurdish women in Northeast Syria. Bjeen shares her personal journey — from surviving the Assad regime and the Syrian war, to navigating discrimination and a landmark legal battle in Germany, to being detained in Turkey for speaking out about Kurdish rights. Together, they discuss what empowerment truly means for women in conflict zones, the challenges of building grassroots organizations without institutional support, and the resilience required to fight for recognition and justice when the world looks away. This conversation is a powerful testament to the enduring strength of Kurdish women and the importance of refusing silence in the face of oppression.Bjeen Alhassan, born in 1992 in Qamishli, Rojava in northeastern Syria. She studied economics in Damascus. In 2014, she fled the Syrian war and came to Germany with her family. She completed a master's degree in 2019. Bjeen established the Facebook group "Lernen mit Bijin," in which she helps refugee women find their way in Germany. In 2020, she received the German Integration Award from chancellor Angela Merkel for her commitment. https://www.facebook.com/groups/533614240656505   Despite discrimination, war, loss, racism and sexism in her life she has never given up. She has not stopped fighting for independence, self-determination and justice for women. In 2021, Bjeen founded transfer of Knowledge TOK e.V. An NGO that empowers Women in the economic and social spheres.  TOK e.V. is a team of young, talented, diverse and educated members, who all participate for society in different sectors but with the same goal: to share knowledge and enable disadvantaged people to gain fair access to Information. "Because we don’t take information for granted."  As a former refugee, Bjeen aspires to be a role model for refugee women. She seeks to provide them with a safe space that empowers them to express themselves and their pain, and to tell their stories. To be a person they can look up to, yet shares the same background as them.