Most couples believe that psychological violence is the most common type of domestic violence, followed by physical violence, economic violence, and sexual violence.
This is according to a survey conducted by the Women's Legal Aid Organization (WOLA) and released on Saturday, June 28, at a press conference in Sulaimaniyah.
In a survey question on types of domestic violence, 47.34 percent of respondents mentioned psychological violence, 25.71 percent mentioned physical violence, followed by economic violence (19.59 percent), and sexual violence (7.34 percent).
The survey, which included both men and women aged 18-60, both literate and illiterate, showed that 47 percent of respondents identified husbands as the perpetrators of domestic violence, while 8 percent said women are the perpetrators.
Sixteen percent described the father as the most violent person in the family, followed by the brother at 12 percent, and then the mother and sister.
The survey was released as part of the monitoring report on the implementation of the law against domestic violence, on the anniversary of the adoption and enactment of the law by the Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament.
Sixty-four percent of respondents believe that having a special court for violence cases is very important, 24 percent believe it is somewhat important, and 12 percent believe it is not important at all.
The Kurdistan Region of Iraq KRI had registered 13,017 cases of violence against women last year, with Erbil reporting 3,596 cases, Sulaimaniya 3,522 cases, Duhok 3,221 cases, and Garmian 912 cases.
According to the law against domestic violence passed by the Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament in 2011, anyone who commits domestic violence is punishable by imprisonment for a period of not less than six months and not more than three years, a fine of not less than one million Iraqi dinars (IQD) and not more than five million dinars, or one of the two penalties.
When asked what could be done to reduce domestic violence, 42 percent of respondents said legal and social awareness, followed by speeches of clerics, guidance from pre-marriage family counseling centers, and messages from the media and other platforms.
