"When Saddam's regime was in power he did everything to subordinate women"

"The Anfal Campaign against the Kurds was exactly like that. He actually killed all the men but let the women stay and live that sort of misery with their children. There was 30 years of that kind of rule. It will take a long, long time for that to change. It is a very slow and painful process."

The human rights minister in the Kurdistan region admits that immolation is a problem that his government is struggling to deal with

There have been attempts to improve education and women's shelters have been built, but it will take years to change long-held customs.