“Oh my God Saza, it’s like the Fatima story is becoming a reality!” says my 18-year-old sister-in-law in a horrified phone call, as she watches six perpetrators being caught on TV a day after they rape a 16-year-old Syrian refugee on her way home from work. Unlike half of the Kurdish population I never watched “Fatima,” a Turkish soap opera broadcast on the Arabic network MBC, but it looks like I should have.
“Why, what happened?” Now I am curious.
She gasps for air: “Fatima was a poor girl, she was raped by three drunken men in the middle of nowhere by the sea. One person in the soap was there but didn’t rape her, same as this Syrian girl. They marry her off to one of the guys so shame doesn’t come to the family.” She breathes out, “Do you get it? Are you with me? It’s like… all the same as Fatima.”
“Saza, imagine if she is forced to forgive them.”
At this point in the conversation I remember my research days at the Women’s Prison in Erbil. That was when I became familiar with the term “soolh,” where among themselves tribes, families and individuals reach settlements on criminal acts.
Therefore, if the 16-year-old rape victim and her family withdrew their appeals then all the six men will return to their homes and lead their daily lives. Hence, it is inevitable that, as I write this column, there are individuals who are coercing “The Syrian girl” and her family to drawback their allegations.
Seventeen women were reportedly raped in the Kurdistan Region in June 2012 alone. I am very well aware that, for the victim, often there is only a single choice: “Marry the rapist or get killed.” Because of this “soolh,” many of us are unfamiliar with any media coverage of victims filing major complaints against their offenders.
There are cases where in court the judge asks the rapist if he is willing to marry the victim. Some girls will file for divorce right after the marriage. Others are to be the wives of men who rape them for life, only so families do not hang their heads in shame and live with a “stained honor.”
It is time we eradicate the “soolh legal system” in Kurdistan. This will eliminate any leeway for bribes, family pressure, and tribal or family wars. Even if the victim is ready to withdraw legal charges, the judicial system should not accept such family-arranged settlements.
In a number of villages in the region families have taken it into their own hands to kill the perpetrator, avoiding the legal system alogether.
Publicizing rape in the Kurdistan Region does not make us a ruthless Third World nation, considering that in England and Wales statistics reveal there are 69,000 cases of rape a year and only 1,070 rape-related convictions. Ruthlessness is when we turn a blind eye and criminals walk free.
Finally, in the year 2014 the Kurdish media did report the rape of the unfortunate Syrian victim.
I am very proud of the ethics used to protect the victim’s identity, and of the police who promptly captured the criminals. This is not a Syrian girl who was raped, dear reader, it is the case of a Kurdish victim.
The women of Kurdistan must demand justice. They must show solidarity and support for the brave girl and her family who chose to speak up. The 16-year-old must be offered special therapy and counseling. How this rape case is dealt with will act as a precedent for future. It is now the right time to raise awareness on an issue that until today has been a taboo in our Kurdish society.
To wind up a rather doleful phone conversation with my sister-in-law, I finally asked: “So what happened to Fatima in the end?”
“After 190 episodes and two seasons, justice was served, but there were so many problems. One of the guys dies, then lots of family problems happen, and the others end up in prison for like 20 years.”
I hang up the phone. Her voice echoes in my ears: “But justice was served, justice was served, justice was served ...”
I wait for the day of live media coverage of the six criminals, handcuffed, given their life sentences in court, where the seventh criminal is also convicted. That is a legal system that I will be proud of, where justice is served.
