Gorilla’s Guides

3 police offices open in Arbil to follow up anti-women violence cases

Arbil, Dec 7, (VOI) – Three police offices would be opened in Arbil to follow up cases of violence against women in the Kurdish province, the Arbil police chief said.
"The offices will be opened in the districts of Khabat, Bensalawa and Shaqlawa to deal with cases of assaults on women in the province," Brig. Abdul-Khaleq Talaat told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).

He said the centers, the first of their kind in Arbil, started their work in coordination with the feminist organizations and unions.
The first center was opened in October 2007 in Arabil, 360 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

On November 26, the human rights minister in the Iraqi Kurdistan region revealed that ninety-seven women were burnt to death and 27 others killed in the three Kurdish provinces during the past four months.

"I cannot say that violence against women has lowered," Yusuf Aziz Muhammad told reporters after taking part in a conference held in Arbil to discuss means to stop violence against women.

The statements coincide with the international day to eliminate violence against women, November 25.

"Surveys conducted in Arbil (the capital of the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region) showed that there were 60 cases of women burning in Arbil, 21 in Duhuk and 16 in Sulaimaniya. There were also 10 cases of women killing in Arbil, 11 in Duhuk and six in Sulaimaniya," Muhammad said.

The Kurdish official, citing the figures of 2005, noted that there were 59 cases of women killing in the region, which rose to 118 in 2006.
"Cases of women burning themselves in Sulaimaniya during 2006 were 64 and in Duhuk 185," said the minister.

Women proved involved in honor-related crimes are forced to burn themselves and sometimes they are set ablaze by their male relatives.

The minister, who heads the committee to investigate violence against women, said members of his committee "dealt with the reasons behind this deterioration and agreed to replace the term ‘honor killing’ with the term ‘violence against women’ and to set determined tasks for relevant ministries."

Snober Ismael, the secretary-general of the Kurdistan Women’s League, said violence against women has been running rampant lately, not just in villages, but in the cities as well.

"Women are subject to pressures to kill themselves," she said, adding violence against women have several reasons like the society’s low look upon women and contempt for their roles both in the family and society.

Aswat Aliraq