ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Minister of Labor and Social Affairs said on Monday that more attention should be given to shelters protecting women confronting threats of domestic violence, while urging other ministries to coordinate together to combat gender-based violence (GBV) in the Region.
Speaking at a conference organized by local and international NGOs in Erbil on Monday, Kwestan Mohammed stated that her ministry’s plan was to establish 72-hour shelters in Zakho and Soran for women to seek safety when faced with violence. Mohammed added that further attention needs to be paid to the already existing shelters in the Region.
The “Let’s Talk” conference is organized by Erbil-based NGO SEED Foundation and United Nations organizations marking the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence aimed at creating discussions and raising awareness about the severity of GBV in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq.
The initiative is an international campaign that kicks off on 25 November - the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and runs until Human Rights Day on 10 December.
Mohammed shared a panel with Hanaa Edwar, a women’s rights activist and co-founder of Iraqi al-Amal association, and US ambassador to Iraq Alina Romanowski, moderated by SEED Foundation President Sherri Kraham Talabani.
According to Talabani, GBV cases have increased in Iraq by 237 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to the numbers recorded in 2021, adding that almost half of the women living in the country face violence in their homes. In the Kurdistan Region, Talabani stated that honor killings had doubled this year.
“We need more action, more procedures, more laws must be passed or approved,” Mohammed stressed.
The Iraqi constitution prohibits the use of violence within the family, but only the Kurdistan Region has a law on domestic violence. Women’s rights activists and lawmakers have been working toward amending the current domestic violence in order to guarantee the safety of women in the Region.
Law number 8 of 2011 entitled “the act of combating domestic violence in Kurdistan Region-Iraq” defines domestic violence as a gender-based act, speech, or threat within a family which may “harm an individual physically, sexually, and psychologically.”
Mohammed stated that the amendments to the domestic violence law are approved but that there are “barriers” that prevent it from being implemented, without elaborating on what these obstacles are. She also called on other ministries in the KRG to contribute in mitigating GBV, naming the ministries of education, culture, and endowment and religious affairs as examples.
“The current challenges in Iraq are dramatic and abnormal, women don't feel secure,” Edwar said of the wider countrywide situation. She also emphasized the need for the Iraqi constitution to address the situation, arguing that the absence of a law facilitates the perpetrators’ escape from prosecution, further encouraging violence.
Echoing Mohammed’s remarks on the importance of combatting cultural and religious norms which promote inequality and at time encourage violence against women, Edwar said tribal laws in Iraq are an important factor in the “spread of GBV, sexual and social violence of women.”
Romanowski stated that combatting GBV “needs to remain a priority” in both the Kurdistan Region and in Iraq, adding that the international community has a role to play by continuing to empower the government institutions.
“We’ve made progress but we’re not done, this a generational challenge for us,” she said of the achievements made so far. The ambassador called on Iraq to pass its draft anti domestic violence law and on the Kurdistan Region to “enforce its existing legislation.”
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