ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Kurdistan Region is buzzing with conversations about violence against women, after several incidents, including the tragic murder of a young woman by her husband, made headlines.
On his show, Rudaw's Ranj Sangawi brought on guests to shed light on what he calls the "flowing river of blood" in the Kurdistan Region, where many say violence against women is increasing at an alarming rate.
"Many women were killed in the name of honor killings in the past few months and I say this with all my respect, but there is no honor in honor killing," Tanya Gilly Khailany, co-founder of SEED Foundation, told Sangawi on Tuesday.
"They say we kill women because of social problems. What are social problems? Do we have to kill all the women of our community to solve and end these problems?," Khailany rhetorically asked on the show.
Zahra Jassim, 21, was killed by her husband in Erbil on Friday. She was married off to him when she was only 12. After years of domestic violence, she separated from her husband in late 2020 and sought shelter at her family's house and a woman's shelter.
Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region condemned Jassim's murder in a tweet, saying “society will never truly thrive if half of the population can’t live freely without fear of violence.”
Women across Iraq and the Kurdistan Region are at heightened risk of domestic violence and gender-based violence as a result of the pandemic, according to a November report from UNFPA, which noted a marked rise in incidents.
According to the chair of the Women's Defense Committee, Lanja Dizayee, the committee submitted a request to hold a meeting with Social Affairs, Human Rights, and Interior committees to address the reasons behind the occurrence of honor killings in the region. The meeting is scheduled for next week.
"Using honor and social problems as justifications for this act is the biggest mistake," said Narmeen Osman, a scholar responsible for the Nareen Research Center, on Sangawi’s show. "Some people say women need to be aware of their rights. I agree, that is important, but some were killed for seeking justice, for seeking their rights, and for wanting to end the domestic violence in their households."
Gender-based violence killed 120 women in the Kurdistan Region in 2019, according to statistics from the Directorate of Combatting Violence Against Women.
Violence against women happens every day in Kurdistan, but it only catches the public's attention when the woman is killed, according to writer and professor Nazand Bagikhani. "In my opinion, violence against women increased during the coronavirus pandemic, and it has spread like an epidemic and terroristic thoughts in the Kurdistan Region. It is nothing less than this pandemic or Daesh (Islamic State)," she argued on the show.
Lawyer Payman Izzadin noted that crimes involving domestic violence fall under the framework of social norms, and no one other than the parties directly involved in the crime are legally allowed to interfere, stand against, or file a complaint with regard to it.
