Women from diverse backgrounds increasingly join ethnic insurgencies like the Kurdish one. This article argues that when gender and ethnic inequalities intersect, an insurgency promising emancipation gains significant appeal among women.

The intersection of class and gender creates distinctive mobilization patterns. Uneducated working-class women often see participation in these movements as their most viable escape from patriarchal constraints.

Employing a multi-method design around the Kurdish case study—based on extensive fieldwork, interviews, and primary archival sources—the findings reveal how overlapping ethnic, gender, and class inequalities shape violent political mobilization. The results highlight an ambivalent relationship between women's agency and empowerment.