Khanim Latif Explained

Khanim Rahim Latif
Birth Place:Sulaymaniyah, Iraq
Nationality:Iraqi
Office:Executive Director of Asuda
Term Start:January 21, 2002
State1:Sulaymaniyah
Spouse:Kamal Rauf
Children:1
Residence:Sulaymaniyah, Iraq

Khanim Rahim Latif (خانم لەتیف|Xanim Letîf; Arabic: خانم لطيف|Xanim Latīf),(born in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq) is a liberal human and women’s rights activist in Iraqi Kurdistan who seeks to defend equality and offer women a refuge from gender-based violence.

Early life and education

Latif has bachelor's degree in Law and Political Science in 2014-2015 and Diploma in Social Work Practice from the Church University of Canterbury in the UK in 2006.

Career

Latif joined the women's rights movement in Kurdistan in 2000. In 2002, she founded the first women's protection shelter providing refuge to victims of gender based violence and honor killing. She was appointed as the Director for Asuda, the first independent NGO to focus on violence against women in Iraq based in the city of Sulaymaniyah. She has published several booklets and books in Kurdish including Consequences of violence against women. Latif also translated into Kurdish several international conventions and documents on women’s rights such as CEDAW.

Latif has been a member of Frontline Defenders International since 2010, a member of the Kurdish National Congress (KNK)[1] since 2011, and a member of Amnesty International since 2006. She has worked extensively on UNSCR1325 related activities in Iraq and Kurdistan and is a founding member of UNSCR1325 Iraq National Action Plan (INAP) coalition. Latif is also an adviser Global Fund for Women for Middle East and North Africa.[2] Latif is also a member of the Honor Based Violence Awareness Network.[3]

Latif was selected as an independent candidate for the Iraqi National Assembly (Parliament) elections for the 2005 elections.[4] She attended many of the countrywide conferences, workshops and symposiums on women in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities. She also participated in campaigning for endorsing a 25% quota for female participation in the future legislative authorities in Iraq/National Assembly.

Latif was selected as nominee for the US Department of State Women of Courage Award in 2008 and a nominee for 2016 Vital Voices Global Leadership Award.[5]

Latif contributes to many reports by international and local organizations and media about women's issues in Kurdistan and Iraq and has been interviewed by international media as a source of information with regard to women's rights in Iraq.[6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]

Latif also regularly participates in international, regional, countrywide and local events and conferences on women's rights and SGBV in Iraq.[21]

In 2014, after the terrorist group ISIS began a violent campaign against the region’s Yazidi population, Latif contributed to the search for women survivors in abandoned buildings and temporary shelters. She discovered that ISIS had abducted at least 2,000 women during the attack. As some of the abducted women started to escape, Latif sought them out and offered Asuda’s care. She learned that women were being tortured, sold, sexually abused and forced into labor and publicized these atrocities locally and globally.

In 2019 Khanim Latif become Iraqi President Advisor for Gender and Civil Society[22] [23]

UN Security Council Briefing on Iraq by Khanim Latif Khanim Latif, Iraqi civil society activist and Founder and Executive Director of Asuda for Combating Violence against Women, was invited to provide a civil society perspective and recommendations when the Security Council met to discuss the situation in Iraq in May 2023. The NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security facilitated her statement but she did not speak on behalf of the NGOWG.[24] [25]

Personal life

Latif is married and has one daughter.[17]

Awards

In recognition for her work and contribution to women's rights in Iraq, Latif received the Vital Voices 15th Global Leadership Award for Human Rights. She was honored on 9 March 2016 during a ceremony held at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. The award honored Latif together with three other activists: Hafsat Abiola-Costello, Akanksha Hazari and Yoani Sánchez.[26] [27] [28]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Kongra Kurdistan . April 9, 2016 . April 22, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160422230451/http://www.kongrakurdistan.net/en/members/1/?query=k&type=alpha&sort=last_name . dead .
  2. Web site: Inspirational Women Leaders. Global Fund for Women. en-US. 2016-03-16.
  3. Web site: EXPERTS. hbv-awareness.com. 2016-03-19.
  4. News: Raphaeli. Nimrod. The New Iraqi Government—Central Themes and Key Figures. 30 March 2017. The Middle East Media Research Institute.
  5. Web site: Global Leadership Awards Vital Voices. www.vitalvoices.org. 2016-03-21. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160326233232/http://www.vitalvoices.org/global-initiatives/global-leadership-awards. March 26, 2016. mdy-all.
  6. Web site: Khanim Rahim Latif: We have to be United. VOA. 2016-03-16.
  7. Web site: Women's rights – at election time and beyond - Christian Aid. Aid. Christian. www.christianaid.org.uk. 2016-03-16. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160321215735/https://www.christianaid.org.uk/whatwedo/eyewitness/middleeast/asuda-womens-rights-iraq.aspx. 2016-03-21.
  8. News: The razor and the damage done: female genital mutilation in Kurdish Iraq. Chulov. Martin. 2010-07-05. The Guardian. en-GB. 0261-3077. 2016-03-16.
  9. Web site: One Woman Is Risking Her Life to Save Thousands in Iraqi Kurdistan. dead. TakePart. 2016-03-16. May 11, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170511081904/http://www.takepart.com/article/2016/03/08/khanim-latif-womens-rights-vital-voices/.
  10. Web site: Time for a Rethink. Qantara.de - Dialogue with the Islamic World. 2016-03-16.
  11. Web site: Honour Based Violence Report IKR and Kurdish Diaspora. https://web.archive.org/web/20170305101016/https://www.roehampton.ac.uk/uploadedFiles/Pages_Assets/PDFs_and_Word_Docs/Staff_Profiles/Aisha-Gill/Report_HBV_IK_UK_KurdishDiaspora_MCopy_December_webcirculationonly.pdf. March 5, 2017. dead.
  12. Web site: Iraq Country of Origin in Formation (COI) Report.
  13. Web site: law Equal Power - Lasting Peace. www.equalpowerlastingpeace.org. 2016-03-16.
  14. Web site: New weapon's law in Iraq deadly threat to women - Kvinna till Kvinna – works for peace and gender equality. Kvinna till Kvinna – works for peace and gender equality. en-us. 2016-03-16. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20170510134711/http://kvinnatillkvinna.se/en/2012/05/15/new-weapon-s-law-in-iraq-deadly-threat-to-women/. May 10, 2017. mdy-all.
  15. Web site: Meet the Bold, Brave Woman Fighting for Women's Rights in Iraqi Kurdistan. AnonHQ. en-US. 2016-03-16.
  16. Web site: The feminists on the frontline. Stylist Magazine. 2016-03-16. June 9, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170609223750/http://www.stylist.co.uk/life/the-feminists-on-the-frontline. dead.
  17. Web site: Sister's Forced Marriage Started Iraqi Woman On Activist Path. Michele . Kelemen. NPR.org. 2016-03-16.
  18. Web site: Frauen-Ohne-Grenzen.org Women-Without-Borders - SAVE - Activities. (design). echonet communication gmbh (http://www.echonet.at), gregor borbely (css / HTML / templates), norbert adenberger (php / database), anja merlicek. www.women-without-borders.org. de. 2016-03-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20170510130623/http://www.women-without-borders.org/save/activities/38/. May 10, 2017. dead.
  19. News: Freedom lost. Lattimer. Mark. 2007-12-13. The Guardian. en-GB. 0261-3077. 2016-03-21.
  20. Web site: How picture phones have fuelled frenzy of honour killing in Iraq. The Independent. en-GB. 2016-03-21.
  21. Web site: Building a New Iraq: Women's Role in Reconstruction. https://web.archive.org/web/20160321182100/https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/womeniraq_3rd1.pdf. March 21, 2016. dead.
  22. Web site: Baghdad Women Association. The first online meeting for coexistence and exchange of experiences with Mrs. Khanim Latif. 1 August 2020.
  23. Web site: UN Women Iraq, President’s office will partner to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment . UN Women Arab State. May 1, 2019. February 2, 2023.
  24. Web site: ceasefire. Ceasefire’s Iraqi partner addresses UN Security Council on women’s rights. May 2023.
  25. Web site: UN Security Council Briefing on Iraq by Khanim Latif . UN Women Arab State. May 18, 2023.
  26. Web site: Global Leadership Awards . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160326233232/http://www.vitalvoices.org/global-initiatives/global-leadership-awards . March 26, 2016 . mdy-all .
  27. Web site: Women, Always Postponed. The Huffington Post. 2016-04-02.
  28. Web site: Vital Voices - 15th Annual Global Leadership Awards. Exposure. 2016-04-02.

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