Village Voice explores hardships of Iraqi Kurdish women

A story from yesterday's online edition of The Village Voice caught our eye with the provocative headline, "They Burn Themselves." The piece, by Voice contributor David Axe, focuses on the high suicide rate of Iraqi Kurdish women, who suffer high rates violence and oppression at the hands of men. Layla Ali, program director at ZEEN, an Erbil women's center producing radio broadcasts for and by Kurdish women, says the abuse is perpetrated by "husbands, brothers, fathers, managers. All men." A common method of suicide in Kurdistan is self immolation because, as Axe explains, "sophisticated methods of suicide are impossible." Cooking fuel and matches are the only tools these women possess to carry out their own deaths. A disturbing glimpse into Kurdish women's lives, to be sure, the article also offers some hope as it documents women's progress in the region. Visit The Village Voice to read the full story: http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0602,axe,71630,6.html