BackgroundReligious leaders are one of the key actors in the issue of female genital cutting (FGC) due to the influential position they have in the community and the frequent association of FGC with the religion. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and perspectives of the local religious leaders in Erbil governorate, Iraqi Kurdistan Region about different aspects of FGC.MethodsIn-depth interviews were conducted with a sample of 29 local religious leaders. A semi-structured questionnaire was used that included questions about their knowledge, understanding, and perspectives on different aspects of FGC such as the reasons for practicing it, their contact and communication with the community regarding the practice and perspectives about banning the practice by law.ResultsParticipants believed that FGC is useful for reducing or regulating the sexual desire of women to prevent adultery and engagement in pre and extramarital sexual relations and to enhance hygiene of women. They indicated that there is no any risk in doing FGC if there is no excessive cut. Most participants indicated that FGC is attributed to the religion and some considered it a tradition mixed with the religion. People rarely ask the advice of the religious leaders regarding FGC, but they frequently complain about the effects of the practice. Participants did not support having a law to ban FGC either because they thought it would be against the religion’s advice on FGC or it will not work.ConclusionsThe local religious leaders lack adequate knowledge about different aspects of FGC particularly the health consequences. There are different and disputing viewpoints about the reasons for practicing FGC, and there is poor support for having a law banning the practice. There is an essential need for enhancing the knowledge of the local religious leaders regarding FGC and its adverse effects on the women’s health.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12978-018-0459-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Background and Objective: Stress is a general term describing the psychological and physical response to a stimulus that alters the body's equilibrium. Nowadays, there is increasing pressure and stress in students, this might be related to studies, examination, peer, teachers or parent's pressure. Aims of this study were to assess the severity of stress among college students and association between socio-demographic. Methods: A crosssectional study was conducted on 200 student nurses of all stages and both genders in College of Nursing at Hawler Medical University/Erbil City of Kurdistan Region-Iraq. Data were collected from students through interviews based on a designed questionnaire. In order to analyse the results of the study data were entered in SPSS (version 23) frequency, percentage and Chi-square tests were used for interpretation of data. Results: The mean age (±SD) was 21.06 (±2.58) years. Most (68.5%) of them were female (85%) single and (63.5%) with standard economic status. About 39.5% of the study sample lived in the urban area, the highest percentage (98%) were Muslim, and (97.5%) were Kurdish. While most (65%) of them suffered from moderate stress level and only 13% were with high stress level. There was no significant association between the level of stress and their socio-demographic characteristics, only gender was significant statistically (P-Value=0.029). Conclusion: The study concluded that most of nursing students have stress symptoms.

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Background and objectives: non-pharmacological treatment for depression and anxiety includes a variety of treatments, such as various types of psychotherapy, education, and supporting measures. Behavioral treatments such as progressive muscle relaxation and abdominal breathing exercises have been shown to be effective in the treatment of anxiety and depression in cancer patients. Therefor this study aimed to evaluate the effect of progressive muscle relaxation and abdominal breathing exercise techniques on anxiety and depression among breast cancer patients in Erbil City- Iraq. Methods:  A quasi-experimental study was conducted at Rizgary Teaching Hospital-department of oncology and Nanakali Oncology Hospital at Erbil city-Iraq, Patients from both hospitals were selected as the intervention and control group respectively. Patients were assessed through; the demographic data questionnaire, Hospital anxiety and depression scale. Results: A total of 88 patients 44 from the control group and 44 patients from the study group participated. At the end of the study, there were significant improvements in anxiety and depression (p-value was 0.001) result was observed in both post-tests at 4-week and at 8-week. Conclusion: The women who got progressive muscle relaxation and abdominal breathing exercise techniques had lower anxiety and depression levels than those who only received routine nursing care, according to the findings. Oncology nurses should educate patients with breast cancer to use the progressive muscle relaxation technique to reduce their anxiety and depression. Keywords: Anxiety, Depression, Breast cancer and Relaxation.