), complemented by the concept of “motivated omission,” introduced here as both an analytical tool and an ethical principle. This concept allows for a recognition of deliberate silence, whether voluntary or constrained, as a gesture of care and protection. Far from being mere absences, these silences are treated as substantive data, reflecting tensions between loyalty, vulnerability, and representational stakes. The article identifies and analyzes three primary forms of unsaid: those rooted in the subjectivity of the participants (modesty, pain, and strategic silence), those shaped by organizational or militant constraints, and those tied to the intimate experience of war and violence. It also considers the researcher’s own silences, shaped by her positionality as a Kurdish woman, a witness, and an involved outsider. Within this framework, ethics is not a fixed normative system, but rather a situated practice of managing silence: an ongoing negotiation between transparency, safety, and fidelity to lived experience. Ultimately, this study highlights the productive role of silence in conflict research settings, while calling for critical awareness of the tendency to idealize, or fetishize, women fighters. It advocates for a situated, sensitive, and humble approach to research, one in which silence, at times, speaks as meaningfully as words