Erbil exhibit puts national focus on gender-based violence
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A one-month exhibition opened on Monday in Erbil aims to bring national focus to gender-based violence (GBV) in the Kurdistan Region and encourage discussions on the topic, its organizer told Rudaw.
“HERStory Exhibition, RESPECT and REMEMBER” was organized by singer and activist Dashni Morad, in partnership with Framing Photojournalism and with support from the Canadian government and SEED Foundation.
Morad hopes the event will “create a better mood together, to no longer fear the subject [of GBV], and instead embrace it.”
Attended by local activists, photographers, and a number of Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) ministers and foreign diplomats, the exhibition started with a panel, focusing on the issue of GBV and how it can be tackled.
Honor killing decreasing
Last year, 120 women lost their lives due gender-based violence. 41 were killed and 79 committed suicide, according to statistics from the Directorate of Combatting Violence Against Women (DCVAW).
The stories of who these women are and how and why they died are largely untold, Morad told Rudaw last week.
The DCVAW’s head Kurdo Omer Abdullah told the panel that honor killings in the region have decreased in the past year.
“In previous years, 60-70 women would be killed due to honor. But this year, 13 of them were honor killings,” she said, adding that the majority of such cases do not end up in courts.
Walls were adorned with the initials of women across the Kurdistan Region who have lost their lives to GBV, accompanied by audio clips of their stories.
Foreign support
A great number of foreigners, including senior diplomats, were seen at the event.
According to Morad, the international community has an important role to play in combatting GBV.
“I think that the international community can really help us financially and with training,” she told Rudaw English, adding that supporting government initiatives is also vital – including those by the DCVAW.
”We are really happy to sponsor an event like this,” said SEED President Sherri Kraham Talabany.
“Dashni has a way of telling the story of victims and raising their voice in a really compelling way, and I think this is a really important issue for Kurdistan to focus on the level of violence against women because we want to see Kurdistan become a stable and prosperous nation,” added Talabany.
“It is very important to remember the victims of honor crimes but also start [to think] about how we can change our attitudes towards violence against women,” she concluded.
Public discussions on the topic are especially important, added the KRG’s Head of Foreign Relations Safeen Dizayee.
“Naturally, such events are important in order to be made public, to be spoken [about] because unfortunately in conservative societies, not only in Kurdistan but throughout Middle East and all over the world, there are certain traditions that the society are obliged to adhere to. Sometimes, these traditions may not be so good,” he said.
“Of course, we have many traditions that we need to uphold them [and] promote them. There are certain traditions that need to be revised and society needs to communicate with each other,” added Dizayee.
He said that the KRG has announced reforms in this regard and will punish the perpetrators.
A untitled poem on women’s rights was also recited by Kurdish poet Layal Shaki.
Shaki told Rudaw English that all her poems are untitled, instead allowing the audience to choose one.
“My message behind the poem was for women to rise and talk. There are people who will listen to them and hear them,” she said.
“There people that will support them. They should not be scared. They can just start talking and there is a whole army behind them that will push them through it,” added the young poet.
At the end of the event, candles were lit in remembrance of the victims.
The exhibition can be visited at the Framing Photojournalism school in central Erbil.