By Mohammed A. Salih
ERBIL, Jul 18 (IPS) - Shawbo Rauf Ali, 19, clearly did not
know that the picnic she was headed for would become a death trap. When she
got there, her husband and several other men beat her to death on suspicion
of extra-marital relations.
The suspicion arose because of an unknown number that
appeared on Shawbo's cell phone.
The men fled after the murder. Two who had British
citizenship left for the UK. Kurdish officials have said the British police
will now extradite them to Iraq. The other two have been arrested and are
awaiting trial.
The murder of Shawbo is among numerous 'honour killings'
in the Kurdish region every year. A Kurdistan parliament report has warned of
an "increasing rate of violence against women."
In Sulaimaniya province south of Erbil, 24 women have been
killed in the first half of this year, says the parliament report. Arrests
have been made in only five of these cases.
In 2005, four women were reported killed in the Kurdish
region's three provinces Erbil, Sulaimaniya and Dohuk. In 2006 that figure
rose to 17. Most of the victims were married women, says a report from the
human rights ministry.
These figures do not tell all. Many women are reported to
have committed suicide under pressure from male members of the family. In
2005, 22 women committed suicide; in 2006 that number rose to 64, according
to police records.
So-called honour killings can be of many kinds. In one
case a video recording showed a girl from the Yazidi religious minority in
northern Iraq brutally killed by dozens of men for having fallen in love with
a Sunni Muslim boy. Yazidis are followers of an ancient Mesopotamian
religion.
That killing led to several demonstrations, and has
brought violence against women into the spotlight.
"This phenomenon of violence against women has become
very dangerous and is on the rise," Yusef Aziz, minister for human
rights in the Kurdistan regional government told IPS in his office in Erbil.
Aziz said courts and the police must take tougher measures
to curb the violence. But, he said, a long-term strategy needs to be devised "by
raising society's awareness of women rights, education, and passing new
legislation to better protect women's rights."
People speak of many factors triggering violence against
women in northern Iraq.
"Honour has been the prime motivator of violence
against women, because in such a patriarchal society women are considered the
honour of their men," Hawjin Hama Rashid, a women activist in Erbil told
IPS. "I believe that today honour has become a new weapon of mass
destruction."
She said authorities have been lenient with men who kill
women, and that some of the men are protected by political parties.
But authorities say they have already taken "decisive
measures" against honour killings. Under earlier Iraqi laws in place in
Kurdistan, men who engaged in honour killing were not charged with deliberate
murder. But new legislation has removed the expression 'honour killing', and
the accused can now be charged with "deliberate murder" for which
punishment is usually life imprisonment or execution.
General amnesties will no more include those convicted of
killing women. A new police department has been established to investigate
violence against women. Imams are being urged to explain that religion does
not condone such acts.
The 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq brought rampant
violence to the rest of the country, but in Kurdistan it opened a new era of
economic and social openness to the outside world. That has led to more
independence among women – and sometimes a price to pay for it.
"In parallel with the social, economic and political
changes that have taken place in Kurdistan after the war, the conservative
and traditional part of society has resorted to self-protection and putting
more restrictions on women," Hama Rashid said.
While women's rights are being debated widely now, few
expect a radical change in the near future.
"This phenomenon has not emerged today, and has deep
historical roots," Pakhshan Zangana, head of Kurdish parliament's women
rights committee told media representatives. "I am not expecting an
immediate solution, but measures will lead to a solution gradually."
Hama Rashid says that "until the mentality of the individuals is changed
regarding the relation between women and honour, we will continue to have violence
against women."