ŞİRİN SALIH

Sulaymaniyah- Kawsar Hassan, Head of the Women’s Department of the Social Bureau in Sulaymaniyah, thinks all forms of violence against women are known thanks to media influence on public opinion. “Awareness-raising activities can end gender-based violence.”

 Kawsar Hassan pointed out that early and forced marriages are also one of the reasons for the increase in violence against women. “Families play an important role in combating violence against women and girls. If they teach their children to respect women’s rights, they can end violence against women. Parents should treat their sons and daughters equally. Girls should not feel that there is a discrimination against them,” she told NuJINHA.

‘Women can now report violence against them’

Emphasizing that violence has many forms, Kawsar Hassan said, “In the past, women could not even ask for a divorce because of the tribal society. Today, tribes still exist; however, women are now more conscious and they can report violence against them.”

In her speech, Kawsar Hassan also talked about psychological violence against women. “Physical violence against women are now recorded in the medical records. For this reason, men use psychological violence against women because they know that they will face prison sentence when they use physical violence. Now, many women are subjected to psychological violence.”

Kawsar Hassan believes that awareness-raising activities can reduce violence against women.