SOUTH KURDISTAN : Protest against severe cases of honor killings in the Kurdish Region
On March 2, 2014, the Zhyan group, a network of local NGOs WADI is a founding member of, protested in the town of Saedsadeq against the murder of the two sister “Shler & Halema” aged 16 and 18 years. Police had found their bodies in a ditch of water on a construction site on February 28th according to media reports.
On the same day, another 15 year old girl was killed by her father in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdish Region in Iraq. The demonstration marched through Saedsadeq holding signs and roses. On the construction site where police had pulled the bodies out of the water the machers held a vigil and scattered rose peddles into the water. A floating candle was lit in remembrance of the three young girls.
Women and activist groups are outraged about a situation in which such murders are still not prosecuted and followed up in a proper way. According to statistics already in the first two months of 2014 eight women were killed by relatives for so called “crimes of honor” which can range from pre-marital relationships to simply receiving phone calls by a male friend. Activists from Zhyan group put the blame on the government and legislative bodies who are not enforcing the laws to stop these crimes against women.