Sulaymaniyah -

Kaka Jamil, 38, a carpenter, did not know that those screams in his wife's face would be his last breath, but then he fell dead, soaked in blood on her hands in the kitchen of his house in the Sulaymaniyah Governorate in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, after she planted a knife in his chest, during a quarrel that erupted between them. , to settle under the dirt, and she is in prison, awaiting trial.

Murder and abuse

Kaka Jamil (a pseudonym) was not the only one who was subjected to violence or murder at the hands of his wife. Hawker Ali (a pseudonym) preceded him, who was heavily shot by the brothers of his ex-wife while returning home in an area of ​​Erbil Governorate, in addition to 6 others who were killed during the year carried out by their wives or with the help of their relatives.

Statistics and official data warn of an increase in the phenomenon of violence against men in various ways and types.

The Kurdistan Men's Union (a non-governmental organization) confirms - according to its data - that the cases of violence against men amounted from 2014 to the end of 2020, a total of 3,797 cases, and suicide cases amounted to 568, while the number of men killed by their wives reached about 42 men. .

The economic and political crises, in addition to the negative role of the media and the absence of law, are at the forefront of the reasons that contributed to the increase in cases of domestic violence in general, and against men in particular in Kurdistan, with the fear that violence will turn from a “situation” to a general “phenomenon” that threatens society and the family fabric in Territory.

The cases of violence that men were subjected to varied, ranging from physical, psychological and sexual violence, in addition to beatings, expulsion from the home and marital infidelity, with the wife's relatives interfering in the marital relationship and preventing the husband from seeing the children.

Faraj warned that the continuation of cases of violence will lead to the disintegration of families, reduce the desire for marriage among young people and increase divorce (Al Jazeera Net)

Cases of violence in 2021

The Union of Kurdistan Men monitored 463 complaints and cases of violence against men that were registered in 2021 in all regions of Kurdistan. Her relatives or "lover" in the same year.

Physical violence, which ranges between (10-15 cases) annually, with the expulsion of elderly men from the home, about (35-50 cases) annually, came at the forefront of the types of violence practiced against men, and as a result, Faraj warns in his speech to Al-Jazeera Net that the continuation of Cases of violence may break up the Kurdish family, threaten its future, reduce the desire to marry among young people, and increase divorce cases.

Sulaymaniyah is ahead of other cities in the region in registering complaints of violence against men, but the city of Erbil and others topped the provinces of Kurdistan in cases of murder and suicide, and this is likely to be attributed to the more open cultural nature in Sulaymaniyah than other regions, and this is what helps men to record cases of violence against them constantly.

The president of the union blamed social networking sites - and the media in general - on an increase in cases of domestic violence, particularly against men, as many satellite channels broadcast dubbed series and programs that are outside the context of public taste and the well-known customs and traditions in Kurdish society.

One of the strange cases of violence that Faraj recounted is that a husband went to take his daughter to the hospital from inside his house after he left due to a family problem with his wife, but the wife filed a lawsuit against him on the accusation that he came to kill her and was imprisoned because of her, but the release was granted on bail.

The President of the Federation indicates that the political crisis in the region has hindered the application of the law, with a regression in its proper implementation, accusing the government and Parliament of failing to address social problems and issues, including the phenomenon of domestic violence.

Golestan: Parliament is preparing a special law to combat violence of all kinds to preserve the family and society (Al-Jazeera)

Failure to enforce the law

As for the deputy head of the Social Affairs and Human Rights Committee in the regional parliament, Kolestan Saeed, believes that the failure to implement the provisions of Law No. 8 of 2021 on combating domestic violence has led to an increase in cases of violence, considering that this law "is one of the best laws in Iraq and the region."

Al Jazeera Net gives an example of this failure, noting that the Kurdistan government has not yet established a special court to address this phenomenon, in addition to not activating special committees to address family and social problems, noting that Parliament is currently preparing a special project to combat violence of all kinds in order to preserve individuals, whether on the family or community level.

Saleh considered that the openness that society has witnessed in recent years has changed many of its concepts and traditions (Al-Jazeera)

Unexpected opening

But the different opinion comes from the social researcher Hama Saleh’s team, admitting that the openness that society has witnessed in recent years and in an unstudied manner has changed many traditional concepts in society, starting with education and going up to other foundations with distortion of many facts, greatly contributed to the increase in cases of violence.

In response to a question by Al Jazeera Net, Saleh attributes the reasons for the increase in cases of violence against men in recent years to the reaction or revenge of women in response to years of violence and persecution they experienced previously at the hands of men, and says that women have been subjected to harsh treatment by men in the past, most notably murder, but the equation has now changed with the disappearance of fear factors for women.

The social researcher regrets the absence of the trust factor within the same family, unlike what was in the past, which led to a distortion of education with the openness that has taken place.

At the same time, he criticizes the reproduction of some social experiences from other societies, different from the Kurdish society in terms of vision, customs and traditions.

In order to address the phenomenon of domestic violence in general, the social researcher suggests that there be a common vision for the life of the husband and wife in the main, in addition to the government institutions carrying out their duties towards these negative phenomena and addressing them without delay.

Raouf holds the media responsible for the deterioration of Kurdish society and the decline of its social foundations (Al-Jazeera)

Dubbing series

For his part, the Kurdish writer and journalist Muhammad Raouf points the finger at the media of all kinds and holds them responsible for the deterioration of the Kurdish society and the decline of its social foundations. He asserts that some media institutions, particularly satellite channels, broadcast “some” programs in ways he describes as “unprofessional” that comes at the fore. those reasons.

And he added - in his speech to Al Jazeera Net - that broadcasting and dubbing many foreign series contributed widely to changing many social and family concepts within the Kurdish society, and making the Kurdish family facing the risk of disintegration, which then contributed to an increase in divorce and violence cases, in addition to murder and suicide.