What if Kawthar had found someone to defend her?

The recent barbaric murder of 15-year-old Kawthar by her family in an "honor killing" served as a stark reminder of the brutal reality facing women in Iraq, and the extent of the patriarchal warfare and the systematic manipulation of their fate and dignity by reactionary forces.
In April 2020, when the tragic news spread of the young woman Malak al-Zubaidi s death by burning due to what her mother described as "family terrorism," Yanar Mohammed said, "If Malak al-Zubaidi had reached our shelters, this wouldn t have happened to her."
Six years after that painful incident, and with the continuation of massacres of domestic and tribal violence against women in Iraq—many of which go unreported—and the continued procrastination of successive patriarchal authorities in enacting a domestic violence law, our beloved Yanar Mohammed, a communist leader and women s emancipation activist who dedicated her life to illuminating the path for women and reminding them that they do not have to surrender to injustice and that they can change their own destiny by themselves, was violently murdered.
Yanar was murdered in the most horrific way, at the hands of unknown perpetrators, while she was actively engaged in combating violence against women. Her murder served as a chilling message to women in Iraq that the war against them and all those who defend them is relentless.
The murder of the child Kawthar was not inevitable, nor were the deaths of so many women and girls in our societies, that are plagued by the diseases of patriarchy and tribal dominance, which turns individuals into criminals and murderers.
Kawthar, who should have had the opportunity to pursue her ambitions of education and a safe life as a young woman in the prime of her life, had her childhood stolen from her. She was forced to abandon all hopes for the future and submit to the relentless responsibilities of child marriage, along with the accompanying burdens of managing the household, children, and family under the sway of tribal and patriarchal traditions and customs.
She did not succumb to this violence and confronted the machinery of injustice and domestic terror, despite the dangers inherent in this path. Had she found someone to support her right to live in safety, this would not have been her fate.
Kawthar s name will remain a symbol of resistance against injustice, domestic violence, and the subjugation of women.
Women of the Uprising
May 21, 2026



https://www.albadeel-alsheoi.org/ar/?p=9306

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