BAGHDAD, July 3, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Women and girls subjected to domestic violence in Iraqi Kurdistan face "daunting obstacles" when they seek state protection, Amnesty International said, accusing authorities of failing to prosecute the abusers.

A report issued Wednesday by the London-based rights group said gender-based violence in the autonomous northern region was "perpetuated by a criminal justice system that fuels impunity".

Authorities "are failing to ensure that perpetrators of domestic violence, including harrowing cases of murder, rape, beatings and burning, are held to account", Amnesty said.

"There is a lack of political will on the part of the authorities to prosecute" the abusers and the protection framework was "exhausted and underfunded", the watchdog said.

Aya Majzoub, Amnesty's deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said: "Survivors of domestic violence in the Kurdistan region of Iraq are being failed at every turn.

"From the moment they escape abusive situations, these women and girls repeatedly encounter daunting obstacles in seeking protection and justice that leave them at risk, allow perpetrators to go unpunished.

"Meanwhile survivors seeking refuge in shelters face prison-like conditions which in some cases compel women and girls to return to situations of horrendous abuse," she added.

Amnesty said state prosecutors "rarely if ever" initiate criminal cases against abusers.

Instead, women and girl must file criminal complaints against their aggressors and "frequently face reprisals, threats and intimidation for doing so from the abuser or their families often aimed at pressuring them to drop the charges".

It describes the legal system as "slow and lengthy" and said judges often show "bias" toward the male abuser and push to keep the family together rather than ensure the protection of women.

Amnesty quoted a caseworker as saying: "Women do not want to go to court because they will be asked, 'What did you do for him to do that to you?'."

"Victims should not be asked what they did to provoke being beaten, stabbed or shot," said the caseworker.

Amnesty called on authorities to "urgently end impunity for domestic violence" and conduct "effective" investigations into domestic violence.

It also called for greater funds for survivors of domestic violence and improved living conditions in shelters for the abused.

Amnesty said it conducted exhaustive research including interviews with 15 women survivors of domestic violence, aid workers and government officials as well as visits to shelters for abused women.

According to Amnesty, citing official figures, at least 30 women were killed in Iraqi Kurdistan in 2023 and 40 the previous year, but NGO workers have said the numbers are higher.