ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraqi women continue to take to the streets despite the abduction of several female activists since protests began in October.
Zahraa Ali al-Qaraloosi, a 19-year-old activist from Baghdad was kidnapped on December 2 while heading home from Tahrir Square.
She had been preparing food for the protesters, many of whom have camped in the square since demonstrations began on October 1.
“Zahraa left the house at 10:30 am on December 2, and that was the last time we saw her alive,” Ali al-Qaraloosi, Zahraa’s father said.
Her body was found outside her home ten hours later.
The al-Qaraloosi family are Feyli Kurds living in Baghdad, a Shiite minority mostly concentrated in southern areas of the capital and Diyala province.
Doctors in Baghdad told the family that unlike most killed in the protests, she was not shot, but her body displayed signs of torture and beating.
The 19-year old is not the only woman to have been targeted during the course of the protests.
Mari Mohammed, a young female activist from Baghdad was kidnapped last month by unknown armed groups in Baghdad after she was heading home from Tahrir Square, where she had been treating the injured.
After posting a video to social media in support of the protesters, Mohammed reportedly began to receive death threats before being kidnapped a week later.
Saba al-Mahdawi,36, was also kidnapped by masked men on her way home from Tahrir Square last month. She was freed a week later.Human Rights Watch reported that she was blindfolded throughout her abduction, according to the family, who did not give further details.
At least 510 protesters and members of the security forces have been killed since protests began, with around 17,000 others wounded in clashes between security forces and protesters.
Security forces have faced particularly vehement condemnation for the direct fire of military-grade tear gas canisters which has killed dozens.
Unidentified armed groups have also kidnapped and assassinated activists, particularly while on their way home from demonstrations. In a statement released by Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights via Whatsapp, two activists were kidnapped in Baghdad, one journalist assassinated, and two activists survived assassination attempts last week alone.
Women in Iraq face many restrictions, including religious, cultural and tribal obstacles which leave them unable to fully participate in civic life.
Despite this, women remain on the frontlines of the protests that have rocked southern Iraq since October.
Although Iraqi women theoretically share equal civil rights with men under the Iraqi constitution, religious conservatism continues to permeate all areas of public life, in opposition to the socially liberal values found among sections of the urban youth.
“Women have equal rights to men, and we also have demands, we are in Tahrir Square,” said Kauthar*, 23, told Rudaw English in Tahrir Square on December 4.
Sumaya*, 20, believed that the protests were helping to break conservative societal taboos.
“We have wrong traditional habits, and negative thoughts about women in our society, but we are here to break those wrong habits,” she said.
Male protesters and activists also faced brutal crackdowns from armed groups in Baghdad and across the south.
Fahim al-Taie, an activist from Karbala, was killed outside his home on December 8 by unknown gunmen riding a motorcycle.
The Iraqi government has failed to identify those responsible for the campaign of violence and intimidation and no arrests have been made.
The United Nations Assistance Mission to Iraq (UNAMI) condemned the recent spate of killings and abductions targeting protesters in a statement published last week.
“It is the ultimate responsibility of the State to protect its people. Abductions, unlawful arrests and heinous killings have no place in a democracy. They must not become ‘the new normal’ in Iraq,” said Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the UN Secretary-General’s special representative to Iraq.
*Names have been changed for security reasons.
