Another woman killed in the Kurdistan Region

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Another woman was found dead in the Kurdish capital late Sunday night, less than two days before International Women’s Day.

Amid a spike of women killings in the Kurdistan Region, Eman Sami Maghdid, 20, was murdered by unknown assailants on Erbil’s 100 meters street, Erbil’s police department said early Monday.

The police did not disclose any details regarding how she was killed, but told Rudaw later on Monday that Mari was married off when she was 12, and her uncle have been arrested in relation with her death.

Known as Mari, Sami was a well-known TikToker with a platform of over 47,000 followers, many of whom have expressed outrage at the news of her death. 

Coming from a conservative society, Mari’s social media photos and videos rebelled against the community’s narratives. She published photos with cigarettes in her hands, videos where she expressed herself out loud, and images wearing crop tops - actions seen as lethal and looked down upon by the majority of the Kurdish community.

"I believe that humans will always suffer on the hands of other humans," Mari wrote on her Facebook in August of 2021, not knowing that she would tragically meet her end a year later. 

Social media users described her as “courageous,” “different,” while others slammed her lifestyle.

“To be different in Kurdistan can bring death,” a user wrote on Facebook. 

“I just heard the news of her death, it did not even sadden me,” wrote another social media user, adding a clapping emoji next to the comment.

Rudaw English reached out to local police for more details regarding Mari’s death but they said they could not share further details as the investigation in the case is ongoing.

Mari’s death coincides with International Women’s Day, globally celebrated on March 8. Several events, seminars and local bazaars have been organized in Erbil to honor women.

Her murder also follows the death of at least ten other women who were killed in Erbil, Sulaimani, Duhok and Koya since the year began.

A mother of ten was allegedly killed in Duhok’s Khanke camp earlier this week. Another woman, who was married off at a young age, was set ablaze by her husband in Sulaimani late last month.

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.

“We must bolster efforts to challenge the toxic masculinity and patriarchal social norms that continue to result in violence. Together we must advocate for the prosecution of perpetrators and the strengthening of the Kurdistan Region Law to Combat Domestic Violence,” read a February statement from the Erbil-based NGO SEED Foundation, which works to promote social, educational and economic development.

Twenty-four women were killed in the Region in the past year, according to statistics from the Directorate of Combatting Violence against Women.

The concerning increase of murders comes despite the Kurdistan Region’s efforts to end gender-based violence and so-called honor killings.

In December, it launched an app 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.

Updated at 8:35 pm

CORRECTION: Erbil police later confirmed to Rudaw that only Mari's uncle was arrested in relation to her death. Her brother has not been arrested. 

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