Kurdistan
Iraqi Kurdistan Bans Female Genital Mutilation
Human Rights Watch on Tuesday welcomed a draft law banning female genital mutilation by the regional government in Iraqi Kurdistan.
The Family Violence Bill approved June 21 by the autonomous government includes several provisions criminalising the practice in Kurdistan, HRW, said, adding that prevalence of FGM among girls and women in Kurdistan "is at least 40 percent."
"By passing this law, the Kurdistan regional government has shown its resolve to end female genital mutilation and to protect the rights of women and girls," said Nadya Khalife, Middle East women's rights researcher at Human Rights Watch.
Kurdistan: A killing set honour above the law
DOKAN, Iraq — Serving small glasses of sugary tea, Qadir Abdul-Rahman Ahmed explained how things went bad with the neighbors. It was not true, he said, that his brothers had threatened to drown his niece if she tried to marry the young man down the street.
“We are not against humanity,” he explained. “I told my brother, if she wants to marry, you can’t stop her.”
But the couple should never have married without permission.
“The girl and the boy should be killed,” he said. “It’s about honor. Honor is more important for us than religion.”
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