FEMINICIDE AND KURDISH WOMEN'S STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM IN IRAK, SIRIA AND EUROPE
The genocide in act in the southern area of Kurdistan (northern Iraq) and in Rojava (Kobane) affects particularly women's freedom and right to life. As it happened in other conflicts, the practice of genocide has expanded and evolved to include more visible and pronounced attacks on women as a group.
Mass feminicides perpetrated by ISIS can be considered crimes against humanity, as they are part of the “Islamic state” policy, and also are part of a widespread practice of explicit targeting of violence against women and girls.
Feminicide acts are used by ISIS forces as a tool of patriarchal oppression and as a weapon to destroy ethnic and religious minorities.
Feminicide is the kidnapping and rape of yazidi women, forced prostitution, sexual slavery, forced marriages, female genital mutilation and also girls and women's suicide to escape this brutal destiny.
Feminicide is a crime against humanity that need to be condemned and persecuted by international community. States have the duty under international human rights law to prevent and respond to violation occurring in conflict and post conflict situations, also when committed by non-State armed groups.
Also in conflict situations, right of women to not to be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment must be guaranteed by States, as stated by CEDAW General Recommendation n. 30. Cedaw convention has been ratified both by Turkey, Iraq and Siria.
I join TJKE in the call for the humanitarian protection of the rights of all displaced women and girls and the prevention of women's rights abuses.
I also express my appreciation to all the kurdish women combatants in Women's Defense Units (YPJ), for being the first to protect Yezîdîs after the ISIS attacks, and to be part of resistence movement against ISIS fundamentalist aggression.
With sorority and international solidarity, we jointly organized an international meeting that will take place tomorrow in Rome.
Barbara Spinelli
Attorney at law in Italy, coordinator of women's right research unit of Giuristi Democratici, italian branch of IADL - International Association of Democratic Lawyers.
Author of a number of publications on femicide, during the expert group meeting on gender – motivated killings of women, convened in 2011 by the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women Rashida Manjoo, she presented the Expert Paper on “Femicide and feminicide in Europe. Gender motivated killings of women as a result of intimate partner violence” .
