A story produced by KirkukNow earned top recognition in the annual Radio Deng (Voice) competition for the best human rights report. The awards for the 10th season of the 2025 competition were presented during a ceremony held on Thursday in Kalar district of Sulaimaniyah Northern Province.
The winning report, titled “21% Experienced Cyberviolence: Silent Weapon Threatening Iraqi Women,” was published in September 2025. It explored the harmful effects and growing risks of cyber violence faced by women in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq KRI.
Azad Osman, director of Radio Deng and organizer of the competition, said “we are proud to host the event for the tenth consecutive year. 45 percent of participants were women.”
“Two of the winners were female journalists, one of the most encouraging outcomes of this year’s competition and a sign of women journalists’ growing capabilities,” he added. He also stressed the importance of giving greater attention to human rights coverage.
The competition is annually organized by Radio Deng, an independent radio station based in Kalar, with support from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a non-profit organization established in 1983 to promote democracy worldwide.
Dr. Kamil Omar, a lecturer in the Media Department at the University of Sulaimani and a member of the judging panel, told KirkukNow that reports were evaluated based on their relevance to human rights issues, as well as how current and significant the ideas were.
He explained that professionalism, fairness, and balanced reporting were also key judging standards. According to him,” the KirkukNow report stood out for its high journalistic quality, engaging storytelling, and strong language use, with no noticeable errors.”
Dr. Kamil, who also served on the judging panel three years ago, praised the KirkukNow team for “consistently producing professional and objective journalism. Their work reflects a highly advanced level of media practice.”
The story found that 21 percent of Iraqi women have experienced cyber violence, while 43 percent faced it multiple times in different forms. It also revealed that 31 percent of men admitted to committing online abuse.
Leila Ahmad received the first prize on behalf of KirkukNow. Second and third place awards went to Paragraf Website and Zoom Tv Cahnnel.
Last year, two investigative reports by KirkukNow received second and third prizes in the ninth edition of the same competition.
KirkukNow Media Outlet operates an online news platform dedicated to covering events and issues within the disputed territories, as well as matters connected to those areas. Its mission is to support peaceful coexistence in the region and improve public access to information.
Founded in 2011, KirkukNow publishes news reports and stories in Arabic, Kurdish, Turkmani, and English.
