ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A woman in her thirties was killed by her cousin in a northwestern Duhok district on Thursday evening, officials have confirmed to Rudaw, citing “social issues” as pretext for the murder.
Using an AK-47, a 30-year-old woman was shot multiple times and eventually murdered by her cousin in Ibrahim Khalil community in Duhok’s Zakho district, according to the district’s police directorate.
Nahshat Salman, spokesperson of Zakho’s police told Rudaw that the incident occurred at 7:30 pm, but did not provide the full name of the victim, nor explicitly explained the reasoning behind the murder, simply noting that it was “due to social issues.”
The spokesperson added that the police is currently pursuing the assailant, after a warrant was issued for his arrest according to Article 406 of the Iraqi penal code.
The murder comes at a time when the Kurdistan Region is facing an alarming influx in the number of women killed under the pretext of “honor” and “social dispute”.
Under the pretext of having “went out with two people,” a 15-year-old teenage girl was allegedly killed by her father in Erbil’s Soran district in March.
A mother in her thirties was killed by her brother in Zakho in February. The assailant later admitted to the crime and turned himself in.
At least twelve women have been killed in Erbil, Sulaimani, Koya, and Duhok since the year began. The toll is expected to be much higher.
Suspects in women killings are often arrested but investigations yield little or no result.
The concerning increase of murders comes despite the Kurdistan Region’s efforts to end gender-based violence and so-called honor killings.
In December, the Region launched an application to tackle violence against women. It also set up a support hotline for victims of violence in 2018, about seven years after the Kurdistan Regional Government passed its Combating Domestic Violence Law, criminalizing domestic violence and equipping the directorate to combat violence by investigating it.
The Kurdistan Region suffers from high rates of gender-based violence, including sexual violence, domestic violence, so-called honor violence, child marriages, and female genital mutilation.
Using an AK-47, a 30-year-old woman was shot multiple times and eventually murdered by her cousin in Ibrahim Khalil community in Duhok’s Zakho district, according to the district’s police directorate.
Nahshat Salman, spokesperson of Zakho’s police told Rudaw that the incident occurred at 7:30 pm, but did not provide the full name of the victim, nor explicitly explained the reasoning behind the murder, simply noting that it was “due to social issues.”
The spokesperson added that the police is currently pursuing the assailant, after a warrant was issued for his arrest according to Article 406 of the Iraqi penal code.
The murder comes at a time when the Kurdistan Region is facing an alarming influx in the number of women killed under the pretext of “honor” and “social dispute”.
Under the pretext of having “went out with two people,” a 15-year-old teenage girl was allegedly killed by her father in Erbil’s Soran district in March.
A mother in her thirties was killed by her brother in Zakho in February. The assailant later admitted to the crime and turned himself in.
At least twelve women have been killed in Erbil, Sulaimani, Koya, and Duhok since the year began. The toll is expected to be much higher.
Suspects in women killings are often arrested but investigations yield little or no result.
The concerning increase of murders comes despite the Kurdistan Region’s efforts to end gender-based violence and so-called honor killings.
In December, the Region launched an application to tackle violence against women. It also set up a support hotline for victims of violence in 2018, about seven years after the Kurdistan Regional Government passed its Combating Domestic Violence Law, criminalizing domestic violence and equipping the directorate to combat violence by investigating it.
The Kurdistan Region suffers from high rates of gender-based violence, including sexual violence, domestic violence, so-called honor violence, child marriages, and female genital mutilation.
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