Govt Rejects Plans for Women’s Shelters

Al-Monitor met with many activists in women's organizations to discuss violence against women, including Hanaa Edwar, the head of the Al-Amal Association, Suhaila Alaasm of the Iraqi Women's League and Athraa al-Hassani, the head of the Model Iraqi Woman Organization.

All of them noted that dozens of women have been killed by their husbands or other male relatives in horrible ways for not wearing the veil or over doubts concerning their morality. For example, if a woman speaks on the phone late at night and her family does not know whom she is calling, this could raise suspicion.

Even today, most women in Shiite areas of Baghdad do not dare to go out on the streets without wearing the veil and a black abaya. This applies to all Iraqi provinces, and is increasingly severe in villages and rural areas, where honor killings are on the rise.

They also noted that violence against women is continuously on the rise, due to the cultural decline of society and its return to tribalism. This comes as a result of the weakness of the rule of law in light of the security and political turmoil in Iraq, and given that battered women are unable to talk about the violence they face.

Hassani told Al-Monitor that for years, a number of civil-society organizations have called for opening shelters for women who are beaten or receive death threats from relatives for various reasons. According to Hassani, their numbers are in the thousands.

However, Hassani added, "These demands were rejected by the government," and expressed her regret that even the Ministry of Women refused their calls. According to her, the reason for this is the "illusion that women are governed by tribal customs and norms that they cannot escape." If women turn to these shelters — if they were to open — they would be pursued by their families, because this act would be considered a source of shame for her family and her husband's family.