20-year-old female activist murdered in Hewlêr

An internet activist has been murdered in Hewlêr (Erbil). The woman is 20-year-old Iman Sami Maghdid. According to police, her body was found on a roadside near the airport on Sunday evening. It is not known how she was murdered. For the time being, investigators do not want to give any information on the exact circumstances of her death. A search is on for the perpetrator(s).

The number of femicides in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) is alarmingly high. Since the beginning of the year, at least ten women have become victims of deadly acts of violence. However, women’s organisations fear that the number of unreported cases is much higher. It is not uncommon for femicides to be disguised as suicide, accident or natural death. In 2021, the Coordination Unit for Combating Violence against Women, based in the KRI Ministry of Home Affairs, put the number of femicides at 24, citing 61 cases of alleged suicide. Another 86 women were reported to have died from burns. Women’s rights activists cited far higher numbers.

Burning as a method of femicide

Gender-specific violence still determines the everyday life of many women and girls in South Kurdistan. Rape, grievous bodily harm, sexual coercion, harassment, exploitation, abuse and femicide – the facets of gender-based violence are large and affect women and girls of all social classes and ages. On average, the government coordination office records around 1,100 cases of gender-based violence every month. Especially burnings are a frequent method of femicide in South Kurdistan. Only three weeks ago, 21-year-old Şinyar Huner was doused with liquid gas in her flat in Sulaymaniyah by the man she was married to and set on fire as she lay asleep in bed. Five days later, the mother of two children succumbed to her severe burn injuries in hospital.

Hardly any measures for prevention and education

The Organisation of Free Women in Kurdistan (Rêxistina Jinên Azad ên Kurdistanê, RJAK) repeatedly points out that domestic violence is one of the biggest social problems in South Kurdistan, which can only be solved through the interaction of all social forces. The prerequisite for this is a common attitude to condemn and end violence against women and to support those affected. What is missing in South Kurdistan on the socio-political level are measures for prevention and intervention aimed at preventing violence, protecting against violence or changing violent behaviour. Public relations play a decisive role in making violence against women visible, in informing people about the problem and in addressing as many people as possible in order to sensitise all population groups. However, in order to break the largely intergenerational cycle of violence against women, there is a lack of measures in South Kurdistan – or a lack of will on the part of the political elite.