Kurdistan-The Center for Combating Violence Against Women in the Raparin district recently published a report detailing cases of domestic violence against women.

The report contains statistics about the perpetuators and the victims of domestic violence.

It shows that most cases of domestic violence involved illiterate individuals or people from low educational backgrounds.

Major Hassan Khoshnaw, the director of the center, told Rudaw that the report is based on information gathered from police departments and researchers in his office.

According to Khoshnaw, in 2011, more than 350 cases of domestic violence were reported in Raparin -- almost one case per day.

Khadija, 34, considers herself a victim of domestic violence after her husband left her after 14 years of marriage for another woman.

Khadija and her three children now rely on handouts from relatives for survival.

According to the report, almost of half of the women who faced domestic violence were between the ages of 14 and 25. More than 60 were unmarried.

Maj. Khoshnaw said the majority of women were subject to violence from their husbands or male family members, with only a small percentage facing violence from outside the family.

The report shows that around 200 people accused of domestic violence are currently in police custody and being investigated for their crimes. More than 50 cases are in the courts.

Maj. Khoshnaw said some cases have been closed because the victims have dropped the charges.

“The majority of the cases were based on minor problems,” he said. “Later on, the plaintiffs dropped their charges and the cases were closed."

Maj. Khoshnaw said the majority of cases are caused by family issues.

“According to our research, most cases relate to family issues,” he said. “As shown in the report, 211 of the 352 cases involved this factor. Forty-six of them were caused by

social problems and 39 were caused by accidents.”

According to the report, only five of the victims of domestic violence held a primary school certificate and only two of them had a high school diploma.

Among the men accused of exercising violence, 53 were illiterate and 152 could read and write.







Rudaw