ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Diplomats, civil society leaders, and government officials in Erbil on Sunday reiterated their commitment to ending gender-based violence (GBV) and promoting women’s rights in the Kurdistan Region, as the country’s tallest skyscraper was lit up in orange to observe the 16 Days of Activism campaign.
The Canadian, German, Dutch, and United Kingdom consulates in Erbil, in cooperation with the Kurdistan Region's High Council for Women and Development, launched the campaign during a ceremony at Erbil’s Zaniary Tower, and urged authorities, activists, and civilians to join forces to effectively combat violence against women and girls.
Kate Shaw, the UK’s acting consul general to Erbil, labeled promoting women, peace and security as a “huge priority” for the British government and its diplomatic missions, adding that they seek to cooperate with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and non-governmental organizations to raise awareness about GBV and to empower women in the Region.
“It’s about highlighting and promoting the importance of the need for everyone, whether that’s governments, whether that’s NGOs, whether that’s individuals, men, women, girls, boys, to do whatever they can to the most of their ability to help stop gender-based violence, to recognize when people might be at risk and to do whatever can be done to stop it,” Shaw told Rudaw English at the event.
The acting consul lauded the KRG’s action plan to combat GBV, but stressed that “there is always more work to be done,” not only in the Kurdistan Region, but globally too.
KRG Interior Minister Reber Ahmed said that the situation for women in the Kurdistan Region has improved over the years, but there is still a need for more effort to combat “inappropriate traditions.”
The Kurdistan Region suffers from high rates of GBV, including sexual violence, domestic violence, so-called honor violence, child marriage, and female genital mutilation. Countless incidents of abuse go unreported on a yearly basis due to the stigma of linking such cases to “family honor” by the society’s conservative-majority population.
“We call on activists, experts, academics, psychologists, and sociologists to work with us towards eliminating violence and eradicating violent mindsets. We hope they help us through sharing their opinions and suggestions, and we, as the KRG and especially the interior ministry, stand ready to help with any initiatives and steps suggested by experts,” said the minister.
In 2021, the Kurdistan Region 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 parliament passed its Combating Domestic Violence Law that criminalizes domestic violence and equips a directorate to combat violence through investigations.Tonight with our partners 🇩🇪🇳🇱🇬🇧 and with the support of the @HighHcwa we will "orange the world". For 15 nights, #Erbil's E1Tower, the tallest in #Iraq, will be lit in orange to bring attention to the campaign to end gender based violence. #16DaysInKRI #OrangeTheWorld pic.twitter.com/9BX3iByonx
— Tammy Ames (@Tammy_L_Ames) November 26, 2023
At least 30 women have been killed in the Kurdistan Region since the start of 2023, according to Fenk Shafeeq, director general of the Combatting Violence against Women Directorate. The KRG’s support hotline for victims of violence has been contacted over 10,000 times since the start of the year.
Shokhan Ahmed, director of the Sulaimani-based Women's Legal Assistance Organization (WOLA), decried the lack of prosecution of perpetrators of femicide, and called for the establishment of an investigative and criminal court to specifically address cases of gender-based killings.
“Our task is to raise awareness and encourage people to take their issues to court, but when we see that settling cases [in the courts] takes such a long time we cannot fully encourage people to go through that process. That is why we have concentrated our efforts to expedite the process of arresting and convicting suspects,” she told Rudaw English.
“According to data from the Directorate of Combatting Violence against Women, 15,000 complaints were filed [in the courts] last year, but there are many more cases that were never brought before the court and were resolved through the families themselves,” she explained.
Defending women comes with risks. The WOLA director stated that their staff often receive threats in the courts, in public, and on social media due to the nature of their work and called for more support and protection from the KRG for feminist organizations.
The Erbil 1 Tower, also known as Zaniary Tower, will be lit up orange throughout the 16-day campaign. The KRG’s Council of Ministers building was also flooded in orange light on Sunday evening. The color orange symbolizes a brighter future, free of violence against all women and girls, according to the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.
Initiated by activists in 1991, the 16 Days of Activism is an annual international campaign calling for the prevention and elimination of violence against women. The theme of this year’s campaign is “UNITE! Invest to prevent violence against women and girls.” It calls on citizens to share the actions they are taking towards creating a world free from GBV, and also urges governments around the world to share how they are investing in GBV prevention.
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.
At least 44 women were killed in the Kurdistan Region in 2022, according to statistics from the Directorate of Combatting Violence against Women, almost double the figure from 2021, when 24 women were killed.