On May 11, the Asuda women's shelter in Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan, came under attack by unidentified gunmen. One woman housed at the shelter, a mother of three, was seriously wounded, hit by three bullets. According to the hospital reports, the woman's condition is currently stable after four hours of emergency surgery. The woman was referred to the shelter by municipal authorities in Sulaymaniyah, fearing abuse and "honor killing" after she was accused by her husband of adultery.
Asuda for Combating Violence against Women was founded in 2000 in Sulaymaniyah and has been running a Women Protection Shelter since 2002. Since its establishment, Asuda provided protection to over 470 women. This is the first time it has come under armed attack. Asuda calls upon the authorities in Kurdistan to act immediately to bring the perpetrators to justice. (Asuda press release via Kurdish Media [2], May 12)
See our last posts on Iraq [3], Kurdistan [4] and the women's struggle [5].
