The Iraqi federal government has approved to inaugurate a shelter for women exposed to violence, after unremitting and continuous efforts by activists and defenders of women's rights.
The opening of the shelter, according to Intisar Karim, responsible for the development and women's department in the Kirkuk province administration, is currently dependent on time and a number of logistical matters.
The shelter is scheduled to open its doors to women exposed to violence and threats soon. It remains only to finish the restoration work of the building and provide shelter supplies," Intisar continued. The importance of opening a shelter for abused women means there will be no need to transfer these women to the shelters in Baghdad and Sulaymaniyah in order to protect them, given that many of the abused women rejected being transferred to another province.
According to statistics obtained by KirkukNow from Kirkuk Police Command, since the beginning of this year, nearly cases of domestic violence have been officially registered. The spokesman for the police command, Major Amer Nouri, told KirkukNow the cases are diverse, including quarrels between couples, betrayal, child custody and many other problems. Women's rights activists call for launching a media campaign to coincide with the opening of the shelter, so that battered women would be aware of the existence of such a place that provides protection for them.
Some organizations defending women's rights indicate that there are dozens of cases of violence and abused women, but due to the lack of a shelter for them, they were forced to join prostitution networks. Sabriya Hazem, 26, who works as a "fortune teller" in a traffic intersection in the city of Kirkuk, is one of dozens of women who have joined prostitution networks during the past ten years. Sabriya, a brunette woman who looks older than her real age, said, "I was 19 when I got married, at that time our house was outside the city of Kirkuk.
