Demonstration in Baghdad against domestic violence and femicide

by

A few days after the murder of a young influencer by her father, a tragedy that caused reactions in Iraq’s conservative society.

Iraqi activists demonstrated in Baghdad today calling for a domestic violence law to be implemented, days after a young influencer was killed by her father, a tragedy that sparked backlash in Iraq’s conservative society.

Timba al-Ali, known for her YouTube videos, was killed in late January, the interior ministry said on Friday, foiling an attempt at “mediation” between the 22-year-old and her relatives to resolve a “family dispute”. Her father then went to the police and confessed to strangling her.

The approximately 20 activists were prevented by security forces from approaching the Supreme Judicial Council but gathered on an avenue leading to that building. “Stop killing women” and “We want Timba’s killer to be held accountable,” were the placards they were holding.

“We are asking for laws to protect women, especially a domestic violence law,” said Rose Hamid, 22. “We came to protest the killing of Timba and everyone else before her. Who will be the next victim?’ he wondered.

“We will continue our mobilization because incidents of domestic violence and femicides have increased,” said protester Lina Ali.

The call of the activists was also adopted by the UN mission in Iraq, which asked the Iraqi government “to adopt a law to criminalize sexist violence”.

Tiba al-Ali had been living in Turkey since 2017 and had gone to visit Iraq when her father killed her. On her YouTube account she uploaded videos of her daily life. She often appeared with her fiance and shared her experiences of the cosmetic surgery procedures she had undergone. Recorded conversations posted on social networking sites by a friend of Timba’s show snippets of conversations she had with her father – the latter furious that his daughter was living alone in Turkey while she accused her brother of sexually harassing her.

The authenticity of these recordings has not been independently confirmed.

You May Also Like

Recommended for you