Human Rights Watch researcher: Iraqi laws can enable domestic violence

SULAYMANIYAH — Iraq’s legal system can, in some cases, facilitate domestic violence rather than prevent it, a Human Rights Watch researcher said Wednesday at the ninth Sulaimani Forum, hosted by the American University of Iraq–Sulaimani.

Sarah Sanbar, the organization’s Iraq researcher, told 964media that violence against women remains a serious concern across both federal Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.

“Women do not have access to the proper legal recourse when they are in situations of domestic violence,” Sanbar said. “There aren’t enough shelters to support women fleeing domestic violence. And the law itself actually in some cases facilitates domestic violence.”

She pointed to longstanding provisions in Iraq’s penal code.

“The Iraqi Penal Code provides for honor as a mitigating excuse for murder in some cases. It gives a husband the right to discipline his wife,” she said. “So in many cases, the law is actually encouraging and facilitating violence against women.”

Sanbar also criticized newer legislation, including Iraq’s recently passed personal status law.

“We’ve been seeing the passage of recent laws such as the personal status law, which sends women’s rights in Iraq back further instead of advancing them and bringing them into 2025,” she said.

Passed by parliament on Jan. 21, the law allows religious authorities to interpret personal matters such as marriage, divorce and inheritance. Supporters say it defends traditional values, but rights groups warn it undermines legal protections and entrenches inequality.

Asked whether conditions for women were better in the Kurdistan Region than in federal Iraq, Sanbar declined to make a direct comparison.

“I don’t like to compare and say that one is better than another because both Kurdistan and federal Iraq have their challenges. They have their issues,” she said. “It’s better to focus on what each country is doing well and where each country needs to improve rather than trying to say which one is doing better than the other.”

Sanbar said Human Rights Watch continues to monitor developments in both regions.

“As an organization, we are dedicated to documenting human rights violations across the world in both Kurdistan and in federal Iraq,” she said.