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By Falah Moradkhin (Wadi):
Zhyan Group, a women right’s network of more than thirty different NGOs and activists in Iraqi-Kurdistan, is organizing a protest in Suleymania in front of the Kurdish parliament. Starting on Friday, January 24th this event will continue for 48 hours, day and night, protesting against the way the Kurdish Government has been dealing with crimes against women during the last two months.
While there has been much talk in public of how the government cares about women rights, in practice not much happened when it comes to implementing the law against domestic violence or to prosecute crimes.
Therefore, the Zhyan group has prepared a four-page list of recommendations to improve the situation of women in Iraqi-Kurdistan.
Zhyan demands:
- A serious follow up of six cases of murders of women that happened during the last two months.
- Real prosecution of six young men who raped a 16-year old Syrian refugee in Erbil.
- Stop releasing prison inmates who were convicted for killing women through amnesty laws
- To finally start implementing the Law Nr. 8 from 2011, a law that criminalizes all kinds of violence against women and children including child marriage and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
- The Prime minister to fulfill his promises given during his speeches last year on 8th of March, World Women’s Day and 25 of November, the Day of Combating Violence Against Women.
- An end of sexual harassment in the streets and in public.
- To provide security to women and civil society activists, who are engaged in combatting violence.
During the protest the Zhyan Group will submit their demands to the Parliament and afterwards repeat this event in front of the Prime Minister’s Office, the office of the President and the Ministry of Justice. Zhyan is hoping to meet representatives of these institutions to discuss its demands.
Falah Moradkhin is a member of the Zhyan Group
