Yanar Mohammed, Iraqi women’s rights activist and co-founder and director of the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq, died on March 2, 2026.
She was also the editor of the newspaper Al-Mousawat (Equality). Mohammed started the first shelters for women in Iraq in 2003, created to protect women from honor killing and sex trafficking.
The network expanded to 11 houses in five cities by 2018, and her shelters served more than 800 women between 2003 and 2019.
Yanar Mohammed (Arabic: ينار محمد; 25 November 1960 – 2 March 2026) was an Iraqi feminist and women’s rights activist. She was a co-founder and the director of the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq (OWFI), and served as the editor of the newspaper Al-Mousawat (Equality). Mohammed started the first shelters for women in Iraq in 2003, protecting them from honor killing and sex trafficking, a network that expanded to 11 houses in five cities by 2018. Between 2003 and 2019, her shelters served more than 800 women. She was shot dead on March 2, 2026.