The Norwegian Council for the Rights of the Kurdish People (RKR) has now published its first magazine with a thematic focus. As an ethnic minority the Kurds has been oppressed and harassed, both politically and militarily for decades. Women are especially endangered by violence and harassment in time of war and conflict. This together with the fear for new assaults affects Kurdish women in a special way and this makes out the thematic focus addressed in this new Norwegian publication. The magazine costs NOK 50,- and orders can be placed at www.kurdistan.no.(09-JAN-06)
Theme Kurdistan: women begins with an introduction to the history, political development and general problematic situation for Kurds in Syria and Iraq. Obviously it has a special focus on the consequences this situation has for women. The contributors to these two articles, Rochelle Harris and Margaret Owen, are both human rights activists and work for the rights of the Kurdish people. As this edition of ‘Theme Kurdistan’ has been devoted to women, the following articles in ‘Theme Kurdistan: Kvinner’ focuses on some of the different aspect of being a woman in Kurdistan today.
Violations, suppression and crisis
Kariane Westrheim, professor at the University of Bergen and member of the Rafto-foundation, discusses the serious problem of rape as torture in war. She argues that the continued Village Guard-system in Turkey, where recruited guards are given a licence to torture, kill and rape their neighbours, is a serious threat to peace in these areas and, more importantly, will only prolong the violations against Kurdish women.
Continued violations and a life in fear create psychological disasters. Suicide is a serious, yet suppressed, problem among women, which the article ‘Flaming protest’ by Abdollah Hejab gives us a brutal encounter of. The phenomenon of suicide by setting fire to oneself is to a small degree analyzed and numerically mapped, but Ronak Faraj Rahim at Women’s Media and Education Center registered that 245 women took their life in this manner in Iraqi Kurdistan in 2001. This suggests a serious problem in absolute need of focus and awareness, and more importantly the launch of a fight to battle this tragic crisis. Hejab addresses this through focusing on the initial causes and reason for these ‘flaming protests’.
Battling the problems
Marianne Rugkåsa, social anthropologist who has written about the Kurdish fight for independence gives us a vivid portray of the life of ‘Maria’, in the 5th article in ‘Tema Kurdistan:Kvinner’. Maria joined the Pershmerga’s fight for freedom in the mountains of Kurdistan at a young age and the interview with Maria gives us a unique chance to learn how female freedom-fighters set their imprint on the battle for human rights for the Kurdish people.
Zaynab Khan brings up the religious aspect within Kurdish women’s fight for their rights. She asks whether women’s rights are in conflict with Islam. Khan has written a master thesis in political science explaining why Kurdish women-organizations fear a diminishing of female rights if the Islam religion gets further influence in the society. At the same time, Khan shows how many Kurdish women-activists connect their demands for rights to the Islamic faith.
Liv Kjølseth, information-director at RKR and editor of ‘Tema Kurdistan’ interviews women at the women’s shelter Mali Khanzad in Hawler, in the last article of the magazine. We are taken into the lives of some of the women at the shelter whose life is threatened by the men in their lives, either family or through forced marriages. The shelter gives unique protection and useful guidance to these women, and most conflicts are resolved through dialogue and contracts. However, the Mali Khanzad does not have any offer to the women without a possibility of settling the dispute with their families, which illustrates a continued challenge within the society.
The magazine is beautifully illustrated with pictures by Roza Ilgen.
Written by Kjersti Movold, Volunteer at RKR
