Dozens rally in Erbil on Women's Day against femicide surge

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Covered in black, dozens of women on Tuesday marked International Women’s Day by gathering in the center of the Kurdish capital to raise their voices in condemnation of the recent surge in femicides the Kurdistan Region has seen.

Photos and placards with faces of murdered women were raised high in Erbil’s Shar Park as dozens of activists and women's rights NGOs rallied against the spike in women killings at the hands of men they loved or those whom they grew up with across the Kurdistan Region.

“Men, why do you do this to women? A woman is your sister, a woman is your mother a woman is your daughter. Why do you discriminate against women like that? Until when?” an old woman told Rudaw’s Dlnia Rahman while holding the photos of at least five women who were recently killed.

Kurdish women marked International Women’s Day by honoring the lives which were unfairly and brutally taken in at least 11 femicides, in Erbil, Sulaimani, Duhok, and Koya so far this year.

“Aren’t women humans? Do they not have the right to live?” another woman questioned angrily.

The rallies follow the recent murder of a 20-year-old woman, who was killed in the capital on Sunday night. The details of her death remain vague as her brother and uncle are being held by the police as the main suspects.

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Tuesday said the surge in murders in the Region is “completely unacceptable,” saying the killings “must fully end.”

“We must all cooperate, help each other, and make serious efforts to prevent and eradicate violence against women,” said President Barzani.

The Region’s Prime Minister Masrour Barzani voiced a tweet in support of women.

“Protecting and empowering women is our common duty, and key to Kurdistan’s future,” the premier wrote.

Social media users also denounced the surge in killings the Region has seen, taking to Twitter to express their anger. 

I had happy plans for women’s day. But i am just going to head to library & do research instead. There’s nothing to celebrate when women are getting killed on the daily. I can’t say happy women’s day.#iwd https://t.co/1EvvpcUrav

— Bêwar (@_Rwandzi) March 8, 2022

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.

Suspects and perpetrators are often arrested but not prosecuted with the police withholding from sharing information with media and the public.

The Erbil-based NGO SEED Foundation, on Tuesday, called on the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to “investigate & prosecute, & develop a clear strategy to respond to honor killings.”

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.

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