Domestic violence cases in Iraq are rising at an alarming and continuous rate, with no signs of relief in sight due to the absence of a law that limits such violence and protects its victims, who are mostly women and children.
In shocking numbers, the Iraqi Ministry of Interior announced today, Sunday, that nearly 14,000 domestic violence cases have been registered over five months across various regions and cities of the country.
Domestic violence often results in children being forced into street labor and abandoning their studies, which causes them to lose their innocence at an early age and exposes them to harassment, exploitation, or even human trafficking.
Ministry spokesperson Brigadier General Moqdad Miri said in a statement received by “Al-Alam Al-Jadid” that “we have registered 13,857 various domestic violence cases in the first five months of this year.”
He added that “physical assault was the highest among these cases.”
In recent years, Iraq has witnessed numerous cases of violence against children by their relatives, with some crimes captured on camera, turning them into public opinion issues. Numerous videos of parents torturing their children have circulated, and in all these cases, judicial and security authorities have taken necessary actions against the perpetrators.
Lawyer Ahmed Al-Araji stated in a previous report to “Al-Alam Al-Jadid” that “weak law enforcement plays the biggest role in the increased crime rate, leading to security instability and negative consequences. Additionally, Iraqi society suffers from a lack of legal culture, and we need to add a legal culture subject to one of the educational stages to raise public awareness.”
Regarding the domestic violence law, Al-Araji points out that “there is a law for domestic violence, and family police stations are performing their roles, but not at the required level. We need amendments to keep pace with developments.”
An official statistic from the Iraqi Ministry of Interior in 2023 revealed a rise in all forms of domestic violence in Iraq, with 100 cases in the capital, Baghdad alone.
According to the Ministry of Interior’s statistics, there were 5,000 cases of domestic violence in the first half of last year. Recently, the Supreme Judicial Council revealed 17,000 domestic violence cases in one year.
In 2020, the government approved a draft domestic violence law within the Cabinet and sent it to the Parliament, which has not been able to pass it amid tensions, fears, and obstacles from influential political blocs. These blocs, driven by religious ideologies, argue that the law imitates Western laws and grants women the right to government care, which they believe encourages women to rebel.
Article 41 of the Penal Code allows husbands, parents, and teachers the right to discipline within the limits of Sharia and the law. Legal expert Ali Al-Tamimi noted that “the wording of the article is vague and misused, restricting the court in accountability. This article has been challenged before the Federal Court for violating Articles 14, 29, and 30 of the Constitution but was rejected.”
Among the most prominent opponents of the law are the Islamic Dawa Party and the Islamic Virtue Party, which see the law as conflicting with Islamic principles of disciplining wives and children.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned of the severe consequences of ongoing violence against Iraqi children, reaching dangerous levels. The organization reported that four out of five children in Iraq are subjected to violence and beating.
