https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Turkish_presidential_election_2014.png
Majority do not attend mosques. I live periodically KRG and I've visited mosques for curiosity reasons in Erbil and Garmiyan area, not many attend. We have too many vacant mosques that are not used.
KRG is actively working against it alongside Wadi/Hivos/UNICEF/HRW.
2013
Significant Decrease of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Iraqi-Kurdistan, New Survey Data Shows [20.10.2013]
The new data is based on interviews with 5,000 women and girls and indicates that this approach has led to a steep decrease in the practice. While 66 – 99% of women aged 25 and older were found to be mutilated, the percentage in the pertinent age group 6 – 10 was close to zero in Halabja and Garmyan. In both areas FGM was previously practiced widely and where the awareness campaign began first. In Suleimaniyah the rate of mutilation among 6-10 years old girls is at 11%, in Goptapa 21% and in Raniya - Wadi’s most recent operation area where the rate used to be close to 100% - has now dropped to 48%. The usual age for the cuttings is between 4 and 8 years in this region.
In past years Wadi has conducted a comprehensive statistical survey on the overall prevalence of FGM in the Iraqi Kurdish region and found 72% of the adult women to be affected. Since then Wadi’s research has been focusing more on young girls because they provide indications on the current trends. A decrease in FGM among young girls is a strong evidence for FGM being practiced less now. This important information gets blurred when measuring only the overall prevalence.
Summary: While there is no way to reverse the effects on the current generation, results of
Female Genital Mutilation in Iraqi Kurdistan [10.12.2013]
As a result of the passing of legislation in 2011 by the KRG that prohibited FGM from being carried out in any of its provinces, the number of female circumcision cases fell by half, according to a report released by UNICEF in July 2013. However the report highlighted Iraq still as being one of the most prominent countries where FGM is being carried out, noting that 8% of Iraqi women between the ages of 15 and 49 had been subjected to some form of FGM when they were young. The vast majority of these cases were concentrated in Irbil, Sulaimaneyah and Kirkuk. The UNICEF findings also showed that just 5% of females in Iraq aged between 15 and 49 support the practice of FGM, most of who were from poorer, rural areas, notoriously bound more strongly by ancestral tradition.
It appears that there is no shortage of effort from the international NGO community or local authorities in acting to try to eradicate the carrying out of FGM from Iraq. However it is a custom that is steeped in Kurdish cultural tradition and many still continue to find an interpretation that supports its implementation from within religious doctrine, although this continues to be widely debatable. The problem arises when cultural tradition and an age-long custom appears clearly to be infringing upon the rights of the individual, who is often faced with little choice but to conform to societal pressures. Certainly more work is required to eradicate FGM from being practiced in Iraqi Kurdistan, especially in its rural areas. However, awareness campaigning about the broad range of dangers regarding FGM and promoting the strict enforcement of protective legislation is having a definite positive effect upon this longstanding humanitarian issue.
2014
Highlighting a recent report by WADI showing a steep decrease in the practice of FGM in parts of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, Consul General Pennington said “this trend demonstrates how the tireless efforts of community leaders and organizations to raise awareness, combined with a new legal framework, can lead to significant changes that benefit the health and safety of the women, girls, and families of this region.” He called for continued cooperation in strengthening these gains and protect future generations of girls, noting “the United States will continue to support efforts to combat gender-based violence (GBV) in all its forms.”
Aura/360/Lotus are not located in any Christian district
Ezidis are not Kurdified, Shabaks however are. Also Erbil is not the most progressive city, Suli is.
