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By Taffan Ako Taha: I was just ten years old when I first visited my motherland, Kurdistan. As I was growing up in Sweden, my father made sure I visited Kurdistan as much as possible. He wanted me and my sister to always remember where we came from, to be familiar with our mother tongue,…
Interview with Goran Sabah (Novelist and PhD Student): Interviewed By Aras Ahmed Mhamad AAM: What is the most notable change in Kurdish society in recent years? GS: It depends on how you define the word “recent” here. Do we mean the last five, eight or ten years? I’d go for the last five years. I…
Press release by WADI: In several Iraqi Kurdish regions female genital mutilation (FGM) has declined significantly within a decade. During the last six months, the Iraqi-German NGO Wadi has collected data on the prevalence of female genital mutilation in the areas of Suleimaniyah, Halabja, Raniya, Goptata and Garmyan. Having discovered in 2004 that FGM was…
By Solin Hacador: ‘Kurdish Women’s Labour’ (‘Keda Jinê’ in Kurdish) was set up to support poor women in Amed. The little shop of Kurdish women in Derîyê Mêrdînê (The Mardin Door) of Amed, Northern Kurdistan, next to the Kervan Saray Hotel, is selling its handmade products. The shop was opened in May 2013 with the…
By Amir Sharifi: The ferocious flames had all the signs of despair, they held up a plea, a dramatic protest against a cruel and tormenting reality plaguing the lives of many women in the Kurdish autonomous region in Northern Iraq. Awena Newspaper had vaguely identified the woman from Garmian, a young 33 year old whose…
KT News and Comment: Women activists in the district of Garmyan have set up a local committee to campaign against violence against woman. Garmyan belongs to the town of Chamchamal and there are plans to set up more committees in other areas such as Kalar, Kfri and Khanakin. Alongside the women activists, members of political parties…
By Thomas v. der Osten-Sacken: Last year, the honor killing of 28-year-old Sarkar led to an uproar by rights organisations against domestic violence in Iraqi Kurdistan. Strong evidence suggested that her own father had committed the crime. Nevertheless, the penal court in Suleymania has now decided to release the father. Members of WOLA and WADI held…
By Ramyar Hassani: Recently two men in Mariwan, a Kurdish city of Iran, were made to wear women’s clothing and paraded around the city. This brought rage from Kurdish people and the protests resulted in the formation of the ‘Being a woman is not a tool to humiliate or punish anyone’ Campaign. Activists spoke out forcefully and…
KT News: Following a controversial decision by a judge last week in the Sakar murder case, the Zhyan Group for Protecting Women is holding a protest outside the Suli court tomorrow at 8 am calling for ‘Laws to bring women’s killers to justice’. They are protesting at the judge’s decision to release Sakar’s father, the…
By Ava Homa: Kurds have respected powerful female leaders from Adele Khanum to Leyla Zana, yet the rate of Kurdish women’s immolation is shockingly high. How can this paradox be explained? Iraqi Kurdistan’s Prime Minister, Nechirvan Barzani, called violence against women, “A terrible expression of inequality and injustice,” and started a 16-day campaign promoting women’s…
KT Comment: On the night of 5th February 2012, a 27 year old teacher known as Sakar was murdered in the town of Ranya in south Kurdistan. The next day the police arrested and charged her father who was convicted by a court, following written evidence provided against him by his wife, Sakar’s mother. He was…
KT Comment: On International Women’s Day, GK TV presenter Susan Anwar has struck a thoughtful and justifiably critical note about the usual celebrations in the south of Kurdistan. In an article appearing today on Xandan website, she writes: “Every year on 8th March all women’s organisations and women’s rights groups are organising celebrations and seminars…
By Sofia Barbarani: Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is defined by the Word Health Organization (WHO) as “all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons”. It is a practice rooted in flimsy accounts of religious traditions, mythical beliefs, and purely…
By HIVOS and WADI: Encouraging steps in Iraq The 6th of February was introduced by the United Nations as The International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Since then public awareness worldwide has grown. In a time when women’s rights and violence against women are discussed more than ever before, especially in…
By Sofia Barbarani: ‘A veil does not protect a woman’s chastity. An education does’ – Jamil Sidqi al-Zahawi, Iraqi poet (1863-1936) December marks the sixtieth anniversary of the establishment of the Kurdish Women’s Union: a reminder of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) successes, as well as a blaring wake-up call. Women’s issues in the Kurdistan Region…
