Continued Femicide Of Women In Iraqi-Kurdistan

EDM number 286 in 2014-15, proposed by Jeremy Corbyn on 22/07/2014.
Categorised under the topics of Crimes of violence, Death, Iraq and Sex discrimination.

That this House notes with grave concern that honour killing and suicide has become a phenomenon that is considered the biggest threat to women's lives and health in the Kurdistan region of Iraq; further notes that as a result many women are killed or have committed suicide while to date there has been no more than 10 convictions as illustrated in official statistics and the observance of International Human Rights agencies; acknowledges that there exists huge ignorance and disinterest in the prevention of such atrocities against women; further notes that areas for improvement include the allocation of a reasonable budget to tackle violence against women, more shelters and services to support and protect women, a just system in which perpetrators can be tried or proper attempts to implement the anti-DV Law that has been in force since 2011, the abolition of legislation that discriminates against women causing more violence for example allowing polygamy for men, rights of divorce belonging to men, unequal inheritance, punishing women for adultery, abortion and similar; further notes that allowances are made for tribal deals on honour killing cases which often prevent justice from prevailing and result in zero convictions; further notes that more focus is required on the widespread existence of child marriage and traditional bride exchanges between families; and urges the Government to raise these points with its counterpart in Iraqi-Kurdistan with a view to protecting women and young girls to ensure their safety and to allow this newly developing region to acquire the respectable acceptance of the international community.

This motion has been signed by a total of 25 MPs.