The authoritarian and non-democratic regimes prevalent in the Middle East engender highly inhospitable environments for women’s activism, subject to fluctuations contingent upon the degree of political openness. Women’s activism, whether manifested through social movements or elitist circles, undergoes oscillations between periods of heightened activity and phases of abeyance owing to the unfavorable political climate. A comprehensive examination of women’s activism in Iranian Kurdistan (Rojhelat) spanning from the mid-1940s to 2022, underpinned by document analysis and 24 in-depth interviews with Kurdish women activists, indicates a profound influence emanating from Iran’s centralized, non-democratic, and hybrid state structure (1925–2020). Through scrutinizing the dynamics of Kurdish women activists and accentuating narratives of abeyance, survival, and resilience, the chapter posits that during pivotal socio-political junctures—such as the establishment of the Kurdish Republic of Mahabad (1945), the Iranian revolution (1979), and the reform period (1997–2005)—activists aligned themselves with Kurdish political parties or established NGOs to articulate their demands. Confronted with severe socio-political oppression during the periods of 1980–1997 and 2005–2020, activists resorted to cultural, literary, and artistic expressions as conduits of free space for survival, thereby ensuring continuity and laying the groundwork for sustained activism in subsequent periods.