Impose law against domestic violence in Iraq
Impose law against domestic violence in Iraq
Why this petition matters
I did not know that such law did not exist in Iraq.
But believe it or not, what I’m asking for in this petition is just the following:
1. for a Law against gender based violence to be in place in Iraq
2. For Rape to be defined as an outright punishable crime and for the rapist not to have the right to marry their victims as a way to “make amends” and escape punishment for their crime.
3. For the law to get rid of legal articles that encourage “honour killing”…and for “honour killings” to be defined as “murder”, which they are!
And can I just say, anyone who resists the passing of the above laws should be seriously investigated, because why and how is it okay to even debate whether or not it is a crime to murder / torture / rape a woman?
Hitting, beating, locking up, choking, burning, hanging, punching, raping, belting….and the list goes on…These are all forms of gender-based violence and crimes, which are currently not even acknowledged as punishable crimes according to Iraqi law, as long as they are practiced by men against women within the family, who are 1st, 2nd or 3rd degree relatives!
Suddenly, having zero relatives is starting to seem like the only way to escape some abuse � until you marry or get raped, of course…
In fact, from the videos attached below, domestic violence against women seems to be bragged about in local social gatherings and it is referred to as a sign of manhood.
When the issue is addressed/talked about in the media and men are asked about why they think domestic violence takes place, they explain on national tv saying things like “when the weather is too hot” or “when the traffic is too bad” or “when there is a power cut” or “when we struggle to provide financially”, then “who else do you take your anger and frustration out on”…naturally, this all “ultimately leads to domestic violence against women and children”!
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Particularly, domestic violence against women (wives and daughters and sisters) is mind-blowing in figures and severity.
For there to be a law against domestic violence is only a small step…of course then comes the struggle to actually get victims to use this law, and the struggle to implement the law in a society where individuals within the actual law implementing bodies may be practicing the very acts that they will be criminalising…
Having in place a law that might, in theory, protect women against gender based violence will not in any way end gender based violence and it might not for many years even reduce the incidence, but it will at least be a way of just saying that violence against women (hitting, punching, beating, raping, hanging, chocking, torturing, and even killing - which seems to currently be the only way out for these women) - that those are all acts of violence, unacceptable and punishable in some way under national law.
Is it too much to ask for a legal system that simply states that physical violence, raping and killing of women is wrong, regardless of the circumstances it occurs under?
Initially I started looking into this after watching a tv programme on the topic; while searching to read up more about Iraqi law on violence against women, I discovered that Iraqi law also allows men to rape women as long as they marry them afterwards for at least 3 years before divorcing them. Article 398 in Iraqi law “allows a rapist to escape imprisonment or other punishment so long as he marries his victim.”
So, Iraqi law offers the rapist a means of escaping any form of punishment by means of further punishing the victim by marrying them off to their rapist. Great � Who writes these laws?
Can they go to jail and can we please put an end to this?
more on law re rape in Iraq: https://www.albawaba.com/slideshow/group-activists-protest-raping-law-known-article-398-baghdad-1124642
On domestic abuse:
“One 18-year-old woman told Human Rights Watch that her brother forced her to marry a friend of his at age 14. Her family, the police, and ultimately a local judge refused to help when she told them that her husband beat her and forced her into prostitution. She said that after she finally fled and went into hiding, her brother wanted to kill her. “[It is] normal in my family to kill someone - my grandfather killed his sister and my uncle killed his sister,” she said.”https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/04/22/iraq-urgent-need-domestic-violence-law
please watch this video from time 31 minutes and 39 seconds onwards for insight into the topic of domestic abuse and gender based violence against women. English subtitles are at the bottom of video:
thank you :)