“Anti-woman violence gives us sleepless nights,” Kurdistan Minister says:

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Minister of Labor & Social Affairs in north Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, Asous Najib Abdullah, has said on Thursday that “the problem of violence against women is giving her sleepless nights,” despite facts that human rights are improving in Kurdistan’s prisons. “The conditions of the woman are occupying an important part of our Ministry’s attention, despite fact that her suffering caused by violence is giving me sleepless nights; that is why I always strive to stand against this problem, which I consider the problem of the society in general,” Asous Najib Abdullah told the Saudi al-Sharq al-Awsat (Middle East) Newspaper in an interview. Minister Asous said that “A Higher Council for Woman exists in Kurdistan, led by its Prime Minister and comprises a number of cabinet ministers, thing that is considered an evidence for the Kurdistan Region‘s attention towards the woman’s conditions and fighting violence practiced against her, along with the existence of a draft-law, planned to be presented to the Kurdistan Parliament to protect the family.” Minister Asous links the reason for violence against women with several issues, saying: “We are living in a ‘male society,’ and we don’t deny the existence of violence against the family in such society, linking some of the reasons for violence and murder crimes against women, to stem from social habits and traditions, despite fact that all cases are not due to this reason.” “There are other reasons and economic factors for anti-woman violence, along with the cultural backwardness in some countryside areas, though they had been decreasing,” the Kurdistan Labour & Social Affairs Minister said. Speaking about her Ministry’s plans in this respect, the Minister said: “We have a project to present assistance for unmarried women and another porject to achieve jobs for women, residing in poor-women centers and women prisoners, where we established several small sewing workshops inside prisons to teach them sewing and weaving, as well as encouraging handicrafts.” “We have also created a special hot line for children, who can contact our Ministry directly, in the event of their facing any violence or need for any special help, whilst we are working on a special law calling it ‘The Alternative Family Law,’ aimed at finding an ‘alternative family’ for the orphan child, as the Islamic Law does not allow adoption,” she added. As regards to the condition of prisons in Kurdistan Region, the Minister said: “Prisons, as they had always been in the past, are suffering from many problems, but we in the Ministry are trying to practice international human rights principles inside those prisons, considering them as ‘reform centres’ and not only to execute punishments.” SKH 257