Kurdistan
Kurdistan Region, UNFPA signed memorandum to end gender-based violence and youth participation on April 3, 2022. Photo: KRG
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Region on Sunday signed a memorandum of understanding to promote ending gender-based violence in the Kurdistan Region, which has led to the murder of over a dozen women in the Region since the year began.
Signed between the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) media and information department and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the memorandum will allow both sides “to raise awareness on prevention and response of gender-based violence, on women’s rights and promote healthy and informed choices for young people across the Kurdistan Region,” read a KRG statement as the agreement includes promoting youth participation across the Region as well.
The department and UNFPA “will jointly conduct advocacy campaigns and support dissemination of people-centered data and interventions.”
Today, we signed a Memorandum of Understating with the @UNFPAIraq to promote ending gender-based violence and youth participation in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. pic.twitter.com/Iwyw7sIwWt
— Jotiar Adil (@KRGSpokesperson) April 3, 2022
The joint declaration of intent comes as the Kurdistan Region sees a spike in so-called honor killings or the murder of women under the pretext of social dispute, which continue to persist despite KRG’s efforts to put an end to it.
At least 13 women have been killed in Erbil, Sulaimani, Koya, and Duhok since the year began. The toll is expected to be much higher.
A woman was allegedly killed by her cousin in Duhok on Thursday.
KRG’s Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani, in late February said it hurts to "live in a society where men think it is normal to threaten, torture and kill women," adding that what is more painful is "the shameless demeanor of our society."
In December, the Region launched an app to tackle violence against women. It also set up a support hotline for victims of violence in 2018, about seven years after the KRG passed its Combating Domestic Violence Law, criminalizing domestic violence and equipping the directorate to combat violence by investigating it.
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