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Some have even become victims of so-called honour killings after being unwittingly filmed in compromising situations.
By Amanj Khalil in Sulaimaniyah (ICR No. 257, 2-May-08)
Salma trusted her boyfriend enough to speak freely with him
about romance, love and even sex.
But she has paid a high price for her candour. Salma, who asked that her real
name be concealed because of the sensitivity of her story, is hiding in a
women’s shelter in the northeastern city of Sulaimaniyah, her body battered and
bruised.
Her boyfriend recorded their intimate conversations on his phone and passed
them onto her family through a friend when she refused to marry him. Salma’s
body still bears the scars of her family’s response. The 28-year-old’s hand was
fractured during one of the beatings from her brothers, father and uncles.
“They started to beat me without even letting me speak,” she said. “They beat
me so severely that I fainted several times."
She fled her home in Grmyan, a mostly rural area in Sulaimaniyah province, with
the help of a women’s organisation and her young sister. Salma fears that she
will be the victim of an “honour killing”, if she ever returns.
Mobile phones have become a new threat to young women’s safety in Iraq’s
northern region, members of parliament and women’s rights campaigners warn.
Men are using them to take photos and record audio and video clips of women and
girls who are breaking social codes by having sexually explicit conversations
or intimate relations with their boyfriends. In many cases, the conversations
and videos have been widely distributed, damaging women’s reputations and, in
doing so, putting their lives at risk.
In 2007, nearly 350 women the victims of violence in mobile-phone related
cases, according to statistics compiled by women’s organisations and the
Sulaimaniyah police directorate. In 2006, 170 cases were recorded.
However, experts believe that the actual number of incidents is much higher.
The first case was believed to be in 2004, when footage of a 17-year-old girl
having sex with a boy circulated in Erbil. Two days after the video was made
public, the girl’s family killed her. A week after the incident, the boy was
also killed by his family.
Despite its reputation as the most progressive region of Iraq, Iraqi Kurdistan
continues to struggle with women’s rights issues. The abuse of women who have
been recorded on mobile phones is part of a larger pattern of violence and
so-called honour crimes committed against women in the north, maintain rights
activists.
“Women and girls in Kurdistan live in a dangerous situation because they are
attacked on a daily basis in the name of honour. No one is defending them,”
said Najiba Mahmood, a women’s activist and head of Civilisation Development
Organisation, a Sulaimaniyah-based non-governmental organisation.
She said the audio, video and photos of women being distributed via mobile
phones “is the worst problem for women and girls. If it is not solved, many
more crimes will be carried out under the name of protecting honour”.
Several reasons have been posited for why young men are secretly taping and
photographing their girlfriends.
Many are thought to be using the materials to boast about relationships with
their friends. And, as in the case of Salma, some are seeking to take revenge
on women who’ve spurned them.
Suzanne Shahab, an MP in the Iraqi Kurdistan parliament, who is campaigning
against the abuse, said it stems from a lack of education and sexual
repression.
Samira Mohammed, a researcher with the government-sponsored Centre to Counter
Violence Against Women in Sulaimaniyah, agreed the trend is more widespread in
poorly educated communities – but insisted “the educated classes are not immune”.
MPs are proposing legislation that they hope will protect women from what has
become known as “mobile phone abuse”. The draft, which parliament is to debate
in May, would fine or imprison individuals who distribute video, audio or
photos that are deemed to damage the honour of women.
MPs have proposed fines of 75,000 to 1 million Iraqi dinars (60 to 850 US
dollars) or between six months and 15 years in prison. Victims would also be
able to sue for financial compensation.
“If we have a good law it might help to reduce the trend,” said Arez Abdullah,
an MP who helped draft the legislation.
“If people know that they will face punishment for misusing mobile phones, then
they will think twice before using it inappropriately.”
Banaz Hussein, deputy director of Asuda, a women’s rights NGO, is currently
helping several victims of mobile phone abuse. She said she is alarmed at the
trend, yet does not think that a law will end the abuse.
"Kurdistan is developing, but people still adhere to the old customs and
traditions,” she said. “And women are still the primary victims.”
Twana Ali, spokesman for the Centre to Counter Violence Against Women, said the
law would make it easier to track the number of mobile phone-related abuse
cases and act as a deterrent.
“There must be laws to solve these issues,” said Ali. “Just telling people not
to misuse mobile phones doesn’t work.”
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