Iraqi Women's Rights Activist Yanar Mohammed Assassinated, Sparking Fear Among Activists
In early March, two unidentified gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on Yanar Mohammed, Iraq's most prominent women's rights activist, outside her home in northern Baghdad. Mohammed, who had long faced death threats from Islamic State and other armed groups, was killed instantly. Her assassination marks the latest in a series of murders of well-known female figures in Iraq, including a female lawyer supporting girls who was killed in early April.
Speaking to media outlets, women in Iraq report that these murders have created a chilling effect on their ability to advocate for rights at a time when women's freedoms are regressing. Last year, the Iraqi parliament passed a law allowing children as young as nine to marry, which activists condemn as legalizing child rape and trapping girls in abusive relationships with lifelong consequences due to interrupted education.
Yanar Mohammed's Legacy and Work
Mohammed returned to Baghdad in 2003 after the US invasion and founded the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq (OWFI), establishing the country's first shelters for women threatened with death or abuse. She expanded this into a network of 11 safe houses across Iraq. These shelters not only provided protection but also served as spaces for women to rebuild their lives, gain economic empowerment, and achieve independence through skill-building.
Tamara Amer, head of the Iraqi Women's Rights platform, described Mohammed as "revolutionary unlike any woman we have ever known, and despite all the threats, she never stopped." Fellow activist Iqbaal al-Aamli, founder of the Edrak Centre for Women's Rights, highlighted Mohammed's personal dedication, noting she memorized the names and stories of the women she helped, visited safe houses to ensure safety, and viewed women as survivors capable of saving others.
Mohammed also ran public awareness campaigns on issues like sexual slavery, human trafficking, and violence against women, while documenting the conditions of survivors in shelters. She addressed the UN Security Council in 2015 on gender equality and women's leadership in global peace and security.
Impact and Ongoing Threats
Mohammed's assassination is seen as part of a "dangerous context of systematic targeting of female activists" in Iraq, according to Iraqi Women's Rights. Other activists have received threatening messages with personal details, and the lack of prosecutions for Mohammed's killers has left women more fearful. Perpetrators of attacks on activists are rarely identified, as seen in the case of Dr. Ban Ziad Tariq, a female psychiatrist in Basra whose death in late 2025 was recorded as a suicide, sparking public outrage and arrests of activists covering her case.
Suha, an Iraqi women's rights activist who requested anonymity, has stopped identifying as a feminist and deleted posts from her blog, including photos of demonstrations with Mohammed, due to safety fears. She now writes under pseudonyms. Mohammed's organization faced legal action in 2020 by Iraqi officials on charges of harboring "runaway" women, which it denied, stating the women were victims of violence and forced marriage.
Staff from Mohammed's organization, who wished to remain anonymous, vow to continue her work, saying, "We will complete this path that Yanar started, because they want to keep us silent and eliminate us. But we will never deviate and we will not stop; Yanar created inspiring women out of every victim."
