Yanar Mohammed: Journey of struggle for women’s freedom in Iraq

Political activist and head of the Women's Freedom Organization in Iraq, Yanar Mohammed, was assassinated yesterday in front of her residence in Baghdad.

In 2004, she had received two threats from an Islamist group calling itself the "Supreme Command for Jihad and Liberation." Who was Yanar?

A Brief Biography

Yanar Mohammed was born in 1960 in Baghdad, Iraq.

She graduated from the College of Engineering, Department of Architecture, in 1984. She continued her studies at the same university, earning a master's degree in engineering in 1993. During her university studies, she was a member of the Iraqi Communist Party.

Immigration and Return to Iraq

Her family emigrated from Iraq to Canada in 1993. However, she couldn't accept life abroad and returned to Baghdad in 2003, as she put it, "after the US occupation of Iraq."

That same year, she founded the Organization for Women's Freedom in Iraq and became its president. She later established the Committee for the Defense of Women's Rights in Iraq and served as editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Al-Musawa" (Equality).

Through her writings, she criticized the United States, arguing that it had occupied Iraq and should withdraw. She linked the sectarian violence inflicted on Iraqi women to US policies in the country.

Her Political Struggle

For 23 years, through the Organization for Women's Freedom in Iraq, she supported women at risk of violence, especially those threatened by so-called "honor crimes." She also fought against human trafficking networks and helped rescue women from sexual slavery and forced prostitution.

She worked to raise awareness among women about how to confront gender-based discrimination and advocated for equality between women and men through Iraqi radio and television.

Under difficult circumstances, she managed to meet with approximately 200 women inside Iraqi prisons and prepared a report on the abuses they suffered, which helped save one of them from a death sentence.

Awards

Yanar Mohammed received the Gruber Women's Rights Award in 2008 and the Norwegian Rafto Prize on September 29, 2016, in recognition of her efforts in defending women's rights.

Calling for the Prosecution of ISIS

Yanar Mohammed called for the prosecution of ISIS mercenaries.

On Friday, February 27, she organized an event in Iraq under the slogan, "Will the rights of Yazidi women in Iraq and Syria be lost?"

During this meeting, which was specifically dedicated to the issue of Yazidi women, she called for the prosecution of ISIS mercenaries who committed attacks and violations against Yazidi women.

Her Assassination

Yanar Mohammed saved hundreds of women in Iraq from violence and murder. Yesterday, Monday (March 2), two masked men on a motorcycle shot and killed her in front of her home in Baghdad.

The regime wants to silence women's voices by killing Yanar, but women will never be silenced in the face of sexism, religious intolerance, and a culture of subjugation.

A Struggle from Childhood to Age 66

Yanar Mohammed was still very young when she heard a truth from her grandmother about her grandfather.

Her grandfather, who was respected in his community, married his ex-wife's sister when she was just 14 years old.

From that moment, Yanar began to confront religious customs and traditions based on gender discrimination, and she embarked on a struggle that ultimately saved the lives of hundreds of Iraqi women from death and murder.

Sh-S

ANHA