Baghdad, Iraq – Dhoha Sabah had been married for eighteen years when her husband first touched her. Gathered in a medium one-room home in the Sadr City area of Baghdad, the couple have always struggled to put food on the table for their four children.
But then the pandemic hit coronavirus, putting Iraq’s oil-dependent economy into a downward spiral and putting many out of work.
“We have no income.” The kids have to go to school, and I can’t pay. When I talk to him about this, he strikes me and the children, ”Sabah told Al Jazeera. At least once, Sabah had to seek medical attention because of her husband’s physical abuse.
Police say domestic violence has gone up in Iraq by about 20 percent since the outbreak of the pandemic, which has pushed millions of Iraqis below the poverty line. Poor neighborhoods like Sadr City have been hit hard by economic and psychological pressures.
The rise in domestic violence has been due to the limited legal and financial support available to victims in Iraq, who often find themselves trapped in abuse as a result of social norms. conservation which sees it as a shame for women to leave or seek justice.
Sabah was thinking about separating her husband, but as so many Iraqi women lacked financial independence, she had no other options.
“I had decided to take my kids away and run away, but where could I go?” Who would introduce me? My parents are also poor people, ”she said.
And so she turned to the Iraqi community police, a unit under the interior ministry that is tasked with resolving intracommunal conflicts before they arise.
“When a wife complains against her husband in a police station or goes to court, their relationship will certainly not return to normal. But if the community police intervene, resolving their conflict through reconciliation, things will return to normal, ”Brigadier General Ghalib Atiya Khalaf, the community police chief, told Al Jazeera.
After several mediation sessions and with the support of Sadr City tribes, the community police persuaded a Sabah man to sign a pledge that he would never strike again. For now, the abuse has stopped.
“If we can unite families and preserve the community, we will reduce crime rates,” Khalaf said. “We found that the majority of criminals came from broken families. “
Community police say there is a 90 percent success rate in resolving domestic abuse cases. But critics say the unit prioritises justice settlement for victims.
Laghan lag
Violence against women is commonplace in Iraqi society and laws. According to a 2012 study by a design ministry, more than half of women surveyed thought it was not violence to beat a woman for evading her husband’s order.
United Nations statistics suggest that 46 percent of currently married women in Iraq were exposed to at least one form of emotional, physical or sexual violence with their spouse. Very few file a criminal case.
“Social values and practices make it a shame for a woman to complain against her husband or brother. Even if she submits a case, as soon as her family hears about it, she will let him go, ”said Marwa Abdul Redha, a young lawyer who handled domestic violence cases.
Abdul Redha could not recall one case that led to the conviction of a bankruptcy. She eventually turned her attention to another legal operation, after the threats and obstacles she encountered while trying to protect victims began raising a psychological toll.
Iraq does not currently have a law of domestic violence. While the 1969 penal code punishes assault that causes bodily harm with at least one year in prison, it also considers “the punishment of a wife by her husband” to be a “legal right”.
A draft domestic violence law was first introduced in Parliament in 2014, but progress has stalled amid widespread political opposition from lawmakers who believe it would dismantle Iraqi social fabric.
“We can’t just copy western experiences that will have a devastating effect on our society,” said legislator Jamal al-Mohammadawi of the National Approach Block, a party with eight seats.
“I believe the new law will raise divorce rates and increase hostility. “
One preparation is particularly controversial: The right of NGOs to open shelters to victims.
“We can’t let anyone open a shelter,” Mayson Al Saedi, leader of the women’s committee and a member of Sairoon, the largest party in Parliament, told Al Jazeera.
Currently, there is one government-run shelter in Baghdad, but it only provides accommodation on the order of a judge. That would have to involve a police case, something that many women are reluctant to do because of the stigma attached to going into a police station.
Underground shelter
Some right-wing organizations run underground shelters, despite serious legal and security risks.
“We have many challenges and difficulties in running shelters that protect women,” said Ibtisam Mania of the Iraqi Women’s Freedom Group, which runs several shelters for women in Baghdad.
“We often have tribal problems. When they know that a woman from their tribe is in our shelter, it is as if they are starting a war against us. Police have also raided several of our shelters. “
Last year, the government filed a lawsuit against the agency, demanding its dissolution. The charges, seen by Al Jazeera, include dividing families, exploiting women and helping them escape. The prime minister’s office has yet to respond to requests for comment.
Al Jazeera gained access to one of these shelters, under the condition of holding back the place and hiding the identity of its occupants.
“Maybe they’ll find my place.” I am afraid to sleep at night. I am afraid of the tribes, ”said one woman who had found shelter there.
She married at just 17, suffered her husband’s beat, rape and psychological horror for more than 20 years. She often thought about leaving, but both he and her family pressured her to stay.
“We have tribal rules. If the woman left her husband’s house, she would be killed. If she goes to her own tribe, they will tell her, ‘Come back to your husband even if it affects you, you have to bear that’.
The point of tension came when he began sexually harassing his daughters. One night, they left their home and came to the shelter in Baghdad, where she hopes to start a new life.
She does not want to call the police for fear that she may be forced to return or lose the care of her children.
“I am not protected by law. It is the men who hold all the power. “