During the last 10 days, 14 women left dead and 17 are wounded in different parts of southern Kurdistan, according to a report published in biweekly Awene on Thursday.

Sever of the 14 came under grave pressure form their relatives to an extent that they committed suicide. Six of the 14 were killed by their relatives for alleged “sexual experience out of wedlock” and “social problem”. They committed suicide by drag abuses, hanging and burning themselves. The “social problem” has become a socially accepted expression of Kurdish language media outlets for a variety of social, tribal, family and other related issues that lead to the death or injuring women.

During the very 10 days, according to Awene, in the governorate of Duhok 11 women attempted to commit suicide by setting fires to themselves. The ration of burning five of them is over 50 percent.

During the first 4 months of 2008, in the governorate of Sulemani, 50 women have been lost their lives by fire; 3 women have been shot dead; and, 8 women have been suffocated. In the last event in Sulemani, a man shoots at the Asuda women centre and leaves one women seriously wounded.

This is while the Kurdistan Regional Government issued a communiqué claiming that “KRG establishes mechanisms to enforce laws protecting women from violence”. The jury is still out on this claim.