The Iraqi government refuses to open shelters for battered women, despite the experience of the provinces of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, which opened such shelters in the 1990s. Currently, the Iraqi Kurdistan Region has six shelters spread over its three regions, and is working to open more in order to help all those who are affected by violence.
Al-Monitor spoke with Leila Abdullah, a women's rights activist who supervises one such shelter in Sulaimaniyah. She said that her shelter has succeeded in helping 780 battered women via social workers and legal professionals hired by the shelter.
Abdullah said that the shelter currently houses 13 women and two young girls, all of whom have been subjected to domestic violence. Some of them were raped and threatened with death by relatives, while others were beaten harshly and repeatedly. Still others were forced to marry men who were much older than them.
Haifa al-Hilfi, the head of the Iraqi parliament's Committee for Women and the Family, spoke to Al-Monitor about the reasons why the government refused to grant legal permits to civil-society organizations to open shelters for battered women. She said, "There is a fear that if these shelters are opened, many women will use them to leave their families." She described this as a "real risk that would threaten many Iraqi families."
Perhaps Hilfi's statement is an implicit recognition of the extent of domestic violence against women in Iraq.
According to Hilfi, the solution to addressing violence against women in Iraq lies in intensifying efforts among clergy, politicians and decision-makers to provide education and religious sermons on this topic. Hilfi also proposed establishing centers linked to the Ministry of Women to accommodate battered women and alleviate the violence they face.
Brushing women's problems under the carpet will only make things worse. I hope these activists and workers don't stop pushing for these centres, as religious initiatives are not a replacement for support for these women.