This seminar offers an in-depth exploration of the factors that shape resilience and empowerment among Yezidi women in the aftermath of the genocidal campaign by the so-called Islamic State in 2014. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in northern Iraq, Germany, and the United States, including an extensive number of interviews, this research investigates the complex interplay between individual circumstances and structural conditions that contribute to varying levels of resilience and empowerment among women. Specifically, the study sheds light on how experiences of sexual violence, displacement, and migration intersect, giving rise to distinct pathways for women that either foster or impede their post-conflict power and resilience. By delving into these nuanced dynamics, the research unveils gendered post-conflict transformations and emphasizes the significance of nuanced understanding of women's realities for effective policymaking.

Tutku Ayhan is a Fellow in International Security at IBEI. Before joining IBEI, she was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Institute for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention at State University of New York, Binghamton.

Tutku's research examines gendered dimensions of war from an intersectional framework. She is mainly interested in post-conflict gender dyanmics and women's post-conflict experiences, particularly their experience of resilience and empowerment. She has conducted field research among Yezidi and Rohingya communities in Iraq, Europe, United States and Bangladesh.

At IBEI, she is teaching courses on Research Methods, International Security, and Gender and Development. She is the coordinator of The Securitization of Migrants and Ethnic Minorities and the Rise of Xenophobia in the EU (SECUREU) project.

During the course 2022-23, IBEI has organised a series of research seminars, which normally take place once a week. Check the 2022-23 programme