Heartland Alliance has released a report entitled, "Institutionalized Violence Against Women and Girls: Laws & Practices in Iraq."  The report highlights legal, procedural and practical challenges facing victims of gender-based violence in the criminal justice system, as well as those seeking legal rights through the Personal Status Courts.

The information and recommendations included in the report are based on real cases handled by Heartland working with their local NGO partners in the KRG, Kirkuk, Baghdad and Basra.  Since 2008, they have handled close to 900 cases for individuals seeking legal rights in Personal Status Courts – and nearly 500 cases on behalf of women and girls who were detained and charged with crimes.  

Following the release of the report Heartland Alliance facilitated a panel discussion, which can be viewed (in Kurdish) at the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/user/mediaheartland?feature=mhum

The report itself can be found here