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Self-immolation is the last
resort for women trapped in unbearable lives, and it
seems to be on the increase.
Whenever 23-year-old Suhair starts to speak, she
pulls a veil over her face to cover the disfiguring
burns.
She set herself on fire last year after having
failed to conceive three years into her marriage.
"My husband is demanding a child from me, and I'm
infertile," she said.
More and more women are choosing this desperate
measure, setting themselves on fire in the hope of
committing suicide.
The survivors are left with terrible scarring.
Sulaimaniyah Emergency Hospital sees a lot of the
cases in this northern part of Iraq, and the
statistics indicate an alarming rise in the numbers.
The Kurdistan Women's Union has launched an
awareness campaign to try to persuade women not to
take this drastic step.
"We've run a number of adverts to show women that no
circumstances in life can justify a woman setting
herself alight," said Payman Izzadin, a spokesperson
for the woman's union.
Wazira, 37, lies in hospital, recovering from burns
that cover most of her body. She has no fingers or
nose, and all her hair has been burnt off. She
constantly wails, "Oh, what did I do to myself? Why
did I burn myself?"
A nurse at the Sulaimaniyah hospital who gave her
name as Dilsoz said survivors are often ashamed to
admit what they have done.
"We know that some of the women who come here have
set themselves on fire, because we can smell the
kerosene. And it is obvious they did it themselves
from the nature of their injuries, particularly
those whose burns go from top downwards."
Samira, an 18-year-old nomadic woman who sustained
burns over almost all her body, is a typical case
where doctors suspect a suicide attempt. Her mother
said it was an accident involving a lantern.
"Women are frightened of their families and
relatives, so they're unable to admit they set
themselves alight," explained Izzadin. "Maybe they
feel anger towards their husbands and want to
conceal it."
Most of the burn victims whom IWPR talked to blamed
their husbands.
Mhabad, 30, told how hard-hearted her husband was.
"My husband asked me not to burn myself inside his
house, but to do it outside," she said.
As she went into the backyard and set herself
alight, her young son watched from the window,
crying.
"I poured kerosene over myself to burn myself out of
despair, because he doesn't love me," said Mhabad.
Now she has left hospital and returned to her
husband. "He is bad to me, just like before."
Haseeba, 22, suffered large-scale burns after a
suicide attempt last year.
Her face was rebuilt in six months of plastic
surgery.
"My husband is not good to me and people look at me
differently," she said.
But I don't want to set myself on fire again. I
regret it now.
"I just wanted to have a different life from the one
I had in the past."
Azeez Mahmood is an IWPR trainee journalist in
Sulaimaniyah. The names of victims have been changed
to protect their identities.
www.iwpr.net
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