User talk:Gsalih1/sandbox

Gender-based violence - Honor Killing in Sulaimaniyah/ Iraq

Gender-based violence ***is violence against women based on women’s secondary status in society.***

Types of Gender-based violence includes: - Physical, sexual and psychological violence such as: Domestic violence and sexual abuse, - Sexual abuse including: Rape and sexual abuse of children by family members; forced pregnancy; sexual slavery; - Traditional practices harmful to women, such as: honor killings, burning or acid throwing, female genital mutilation, and dowry (property or money brought by a bride to her husband on their marriage.); - Violence in armed conflict, such as murder and rape; and emotional abuse, such as coercion and abusive language. Trafficking of women and girls for prostitution, forced marriage, sexual harassment and intimidation at work are additional examples of violence against women.

Where gender violence occurs? Gender violence occurs in both the ‘public’ and ‘private’ spheres. Such violence not only occurs in the family and in the general community, but is sometimes also perpetuated by the state through policies or the actions of agents of the state such as the police, military or immigration authorities.

Examples of violence in Family level: is one of the primary sites of gender violence. Because violence within the family and household takes place in the home, it is often seen as a ‘private’: Physical abuses (spousal battering, sexual assault, sexual abuse) and/or psychological abuses occur. (Domestic violence can also take such forms as confinement, forced marriage of woman arranged by her family without her consent, threats, insults and neglect; overt control of a woman’s sexuality through either forced pregnancy or forced abortion.)

Examples of Violence in Community/Society level: as a group sharing common social, cultural, religious or ethnic belonging. Workplace can also be a site of violence, women are vulnerable to sexual aggression (harassment, intimidation) and commercialized violence (trafficking for sexual exploitation).

Examples of Violence in State level: discriminatory laws and policies or through the discriminatory application of the law. Police misconduct, threatening victims to have sex with them or give them oral sex.
 * Bottom line: Gender-based violence happens in all societies, across all social classes, with women particularly at risk from men they know.***

What Causes Gender-Base Violence? Baker. N.V, Gregware. P.R, and Cassidy. M.A (1999), Family killing fields: Honour rationales in the murder of women, Violence against women, 5(2). - Lack of gender equality – Poverty – Low education level – Lack of awareness & knowledge about rights – Women’s low position / low self-esteem – Polygamy (having more than one wife or husband at the same time) – Dowry – Fatwa or Religious Misinterpretation – Moral degradation – Weakness of Law – Economic Dependency.

Honor Killing ***is not a Kurdish phenomenon; it has been in the West and the East throughout the history*** Honor killing is a serious violation of International Human Rights. It is the traditional practice in some countries of killing a family member who is believed to have brought shame or dishonor on the family. The most common excuse for ‘honor killings’ is suspicion of ‘intimate’ relations between a woman and a man, such as, adultery, sex outside of marriage, or simply becoming close companions. Rejecting arranged marriage or marrying someone against the family’s will.

Where do ‘honor killings’ occur?Chesler, P. (2009, Spring). Are Honor Killings Simply Domestic Violence? Middle East QUarterly, pp. 61-69. Mostly in Muslim countries, but according to The United Nations Commission on Human Rights that honor killings have occurred in Great Britain, Brazil, India, Ecuador, Israel, Italy, Sweden, and Uganda as well as in Muslim nations such as Turkey, Jordan, Pakistan, and Morocco. Where else? In Kurdistan, Northern Iraq.


 * Is Honor killing a form of Domestic Violence? ***Chesler, P. (2010, Spring). Worldwide Trends in Honor Killings. Middle East Quarterly, pp. 3-11.

Facts about Gender-Based Violence Worldwide: According to Honor Based Violence Awareness Network, only in 2016: • 5000 honor killings internationally per year. • 1000 honor killings occur in India • 1000 honor killings occur in Pakistan • 12 honor killings per year in UK

- Around the world, at least 1 in every 3 women has been beaten, forced into sex, or abused by a man in her lifetime. - More than 20 % of women are reported to have been abused by men with whom they live.

- Approximately 60 million women, mostly in Asia, are “missing” or killed someone they know.

- Among women aged 15-44 years, gender-based violence accounts for more death and disability than the combined effects of cancer, malaria, traffic-related injuries and war.

- Trafficking in women and girls for sexual exploitation by men is most common among poor women and girls.

- Each year, 2 million girls between ages 5 and 15 are introduced into the commercial sex industry.

- Women who are victims of domestic violence are 12 times more likely to attempt suicide than those who do not experience such violence.

- During war and civil conflict, women and girls are often targeted for special forms of violence by men as a way of attacking the self-esteem of the enemy - Based on recent studies, more than 130 million women and girls in Africa, Middle East and Asia, have undergone female genital mutilation and an estimated 2 million girls are at risk for undergoing the procedure each year.

- In Canada, the cost of domestic violence amounts to $1.6 billion per year, including medical care. Whereas, estimates in the United States this figure between $10 and $67 billion.

- Only 1 in 100 battered women in the U.S. reports the abuse she suffers. Every nine seconds, a woman is battered by her domestic partner.

- Studies found that in the United States 1 out of every 6 women has experienced an attempted or completed rape. Of these women, 22 % were under 12 years old and 32 % were aged 12-17 at the time of the crime.

- In European Union, it is estimated that 45% to 81% of working women experience sexual harassment in the workplace. - In France, 95% of the victims of violence are women, 51% of them are at the hands of their husbands. - In Russia, half of all murder victims are women killed by their male partners.

What can we do? What needs to be done?

The worldwide ideas about the changing approach to gender-based violence: • There are multiple approaches being integrated to address the problem of gender-based violence (i.e. human rights, health, educational and developmental) approaches.

• The topic is no longer merely about the survivors, the women who have been and are abused, now most of them are advocates, they don’t only help women, but also who abuses them.

• The notion of the impact of gender-based violence is expanding from considering the immediate effects on the women to examining the effects on the larger community, family, and society.

• Gender-based violence is not just a ‘women’s issue’, but an issue that concerns all men and not just individual offenders. It’s about a healthy society.