In many areas within Kurdish regions, women are reluctant to take men to court on charges of domestic abuse because of the societal stigma attached to taking one's husband, brother or male-guardian to court. In order to overcome this, the Kurdish Regional goverment has launched a national campaign (هه‌ڵمه‌تی نیشتیمانی بۆ به‌ره‌نگاربوونه‌وه‌ی توندوتیژی دژی ئافره‌تان) which aims to end violence and discrimination against women.

The Prime Minister of Kurdistan region tweeted;

Despite the large-scale of development in South Kurdistan, it is essential that a nationwide effort is made to challenge sexual harassment and domestic abuse of women. In the past years, numerous Kurdish academics and politicians have been vocal about women rights and equality, and the government has passed legislation to tackle this issue but unfortunately changing certain cultural beliefs will take a longer time.

Violence against women is a world-wide problem, in the United Kingdom despite many laws passed to protect women, one woman is raped every 9 minutes and 3 million women experience violence each year. The laws which Kurdish regional government passes can only be effective with nationwide backing and support in south Kurdistan.

• Charities claim half of women who are victims of domestic violence will no longer qualify for legal aid under government proposals. 
• Chief Executive of the charity ‘Domestic violence intervention project’ has said their analysis indicate 50% of women victims will lose out.
• Three Million women in The United Kingdom face violence, significant number of them domestic abuse.
• Rights of Women campaigner Emma Scott has said planned reforms to save £350 million in legal aid would have “devastating and disproportionate impact” on women.
• “The reforms demonstrate a total lack of awareness and understanding of the dynamics and nature of domestic violence and the experiences of women affected by it.”

Source: The Guardian

• Charities have claimed “The proposed eligibility criteria for women to access legal aid in family cases fails to reflects women’s experiences of domestic violence” and that "Without access to legal aid, women will stay in abusive relationships: as a result, more women will be killed by violent partners and there will be an increase in suicides”

 Source: The Guardian.

• Proposed legal aid changes will disproportionately affect women, and the most vulnerable women will suffer most.
• As violence against women is both a cause and a consequence of women’s inequality, the ability to access free or low cost legal advice is particularly important for women who are more likely to experience economic disadvantage and be less likely to be able to pay privately for legal advice.

Source: Justice For All.

Published on Awat Newspaper on July 1st.

My Nest In Kurdistan is a reflection of the current state of Kurdish youth, their thoughts as the semi-autonomous region progresses and their aspirations. It provides a persuasive argument for Kurds in diaspora to return, especially those who immigrated due to the prosecution they faced under the Baath regime. Sazan Mandalawi talks about her childhood, Kurdish identity, culture, and the people that she has fallen in love with after returning back to her beloved land. For decades Saddam Hussein suppressed Kurdish voices, but immediately after his fall, a new generation of Youth actively interconnected through social networking and have been vocal about their identity and culture.

In her memoirs, she talks about the importance of leaders involving their wives in political work, an attempt to illustrate equality, female empowerment and liberation for the wider public. What makes her memoirs special is her considerate young age — and female outlook on Kurdistan. Women are keener to be politically, socially and economically involved after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Sazan Mandalawi is one of the many Kurdish women with bright ideas towards a prosperous region. Her voice, thoughts, musings are all an indicator of contemporary Kurdish youth, as they attempt to shape Kurdistan socially and politically.

This book is a collection of articles documenting the experiences, challenges, thoughts and ideas of a young Kurdish girl. She witnesses what was once called a “big village” turn into a multicultural city filled with businessmen and women.  Each article is about a particular issue, all of which relate to Kurdistan. She speaks about some of the archaic traditions that have managed to force their way into the 21st century. The ancient practice of women demanding huge amounts of gold from a potential marriage prospect as a means of insurance if the marriage turns bitter is still continuous. She argues that this is because women at large don't have active social roles, in which they are economically active enough to not use dowries as insurance. This idea, she argues will fade away as women progress forward.

When I asked her about her source of inspiration, her reply was reminiscent of her experiences as illustrated throughout the book, she replied, “Every person or experience I counter in my day-to-day life inspires me”. She has written on planes, mountains, under trees, on the historical Citadel, by waterfalls, inside lecture halls, and many other unusual places for a writer. 

In a recent interview she offered some advice for Kurds abroad, many of whom fled the tyrannical regime of Saddam Hussein — “Pack your luggage with all the languages you know, all the courses you’ve taken, all the certificates you have, every experience you’ve gained and fly to the nest.” For every person that has asked me about what it means to be Kurdish, and what Kurdistan is like, they should read this book, and it will help them understand.

Eman El Obeidi on CNN

Rape is one of the worst things that could happen to a person, especially to women within the Kurdish community. This is partly because of the fact that in Kurdish society, the value of women is reduced to their virginity before marriage. A family's honour is often associated with their daughter remaining chaste and pure until marriage. Consequently, speaking against rape becomes extremely hard, particularly if women are led to believe that it will dishonour their families, destroy all future marriage prospects, or even bring an end to their existing marriage due to the social perception of a rape victim as "second hand goods", impure or dirty.

Recently, the case of Eman El Obeidi was one that echoed throughout the Middle East. Eman is a Libyan postgraduate law student who was detained for two days by Muammar Gaddafi's troops during the current tension in Libya. She was gang-raped by a group of inhumane men; but, in defiance of cultural expectation set for women, she ran into a hotel in Tripoli full of foreign journalists, shouting through tears, her story became known to the world, and the ignominy surrounding rape became the centre of feminist discourse. 

Cases similar to Eman El Obeidi are rare, not only in Libya, but throughout Middle East. Kurdistan keeps no official statistics of rape because this crime goes unreported due to social stigmatisation. When rape cases are reported, they are kept private in fear of retaliation from perpetrator's family or associates.

Maintaining honour and familial respect is very important to women in Kurdistan. Rape supposedly brings dishonour, shame, embarrassment, and humiliation. If women believe that rape renders them as "damaged goods," then it is no wonder that they don't find reporting this crime an appealing retreat towards justice, partially in fear of the consequences of social implications that follow after being identified as a victim of rape. 

What perpetuates a culture in which rape is stigmatised might also be the legal system's approach to criminals convicted of rape, and their treatment of rape victims.

In more advanced legal systems, victims are given priority along with sensitivity. Unfortunately, in Kurdistan the fate of a rape victim is at the discretion of the judge's conviction of whether a medical investigation should even be conducted and thereby establish whether she is raped. 

In order to take proper care of the victims of rape, society needs to tackle the stigma attached to rape. Public attitude towards rape must change. By collecting stories from rape victims, non-profit organisations are hoping to break the stigmatisation and taboo surrounding rape. Moreover, if these same organisations help rape victims recover from this traumatic ordeal, it will make their lives easier, and encourage them to come forward with their cases, as opposed to feeling humiliated or ashamed.