Domestic violence is a global issue. But nowhere is it more prevalent than in societies where foundational values are still completely patriarchal. Broken Princess is the story of women in Iraqi Kurdistan who tried to escape – and protest – domestic violence by setting themselves on fire.
While suicide is far from an uncommon choice for women, the question of why Iraqi Kurdistan women would choose the pain and devastation of self-immolation is what compelled me to investigate the phenomenon. Fire has a historical and cultural meaning for Kurdish people: it means light, goodness and purification. Kurdish women express their love by saying “I burn myself for you!”; the ultimate indicator of dedication and loyalty. In suicide, fire becomes their own purifying vehicle.
Through fire, the women escape a life that traps them in an oppressive society with no economic or social independence. But not all of them succeed in killing themselves. Those who survive are left with terrible physical scars and possibly even more painful psychological ones: with little support or visibility, they find themselves in a place that is worse, in some ways, than before.
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