On 31 January 2023, Tiba al-Ali, an Iraqi Youtube influencer, was killed in Iraq in an apparent honour killing by her father. [1] [2]
Tiba al-Ali was born in Iraq in 2000 and moved to Turkey in 2017. [1] [2] She and her fiancé frequently made videos on YouTube about life in Istanbul. [3] She visited her family in the central Iraqi city of Al Diwaniyah, Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, in 2023, where on 31 January she was strangled at night while sleeping. [3] Her father, who objected to her living in Turkey, confessed to police that he was responsible for the murder. [1] [2] There are no laws in Iraq that prohibit domestic violence. [1] Many media outlets have described it as a so-called honour killing. [4] [5]
In February, protests against the killing took place in Iraq. Activists gathered to demand a law against domestic violence and to bring attention to the issue of rising violence against women in the country. [3] [6]
In April 2023, Tiba's father, Tayyip Ali, was given a six-month jail sentence. General Saad Mann of the Iraqi Interior Ministry explained to the BBC that ""An accident happened to Tiba al-Ali. In the perspective of law, it is a criminal accident, and in other perspectives, it is an accident of honour killings." [7]
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The death of a young YouTube star at the hands of her father has sparked outrage in Iraq, as so-called 'honour' killings continue in the conservative country.
Dozens of Iraqi protesters gathered Sunday to decry the so-called 'honor killing' of a 22-year-old YouTube star who was allegedly strangled by her father ...