Northern Iraq – Autonomous Region of Kurdistan

1. Right to protection from violence not being upheld

The Iraqi constitution forbids any form of violence within families. In the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq there is also a specific family law passed in 2011 which grants women statutory protection against gender-based violence, including female genital cutting, making this violence a criminal act. However, there is insufficient political motivation to actually enforce this right to protection.

Conservative religious norms

Further obstacles to women’s rights include conservative religious values, the growth of extremism, and militarism. So women and girls in Iraq continue to experience violence and discrimination. In particular, the country is seeing increases in domestic and sexualised violence in the wake of armed conflicts and ongoing insecurity.

The crimes committed against the Yazidi and other minority groups in 2014 by the so-called Islamic State are just the most recent chapter in the history of s sexualised wartime violence against women in Iraq. The UN, EU Parliament and many national governments have recognised the systematic genocide against the Yazidi and classed the acts of the IS as crimes against humanity. In particular this applies to the crimes against Yazidi women and girls. They have been abducted, raped and sold into slavery.

In the 1980s during the Al-Anfal campaign, Saddam Hussein ordered the use of sexualised violence against Kurdish women. And after the US invasion and collapse of the regime in 2003, human rights organisations reported large numbers of women being abducted, raped and killed.

In total there are more than a million people within Iraq who are displaced or refugees, of which 659,000 are in the KRI. Only about 15 per cent of the internally displaced people are living in camps. These are joined by a further 258,000 people who fled from the war in Syria. Refugees and displaced women are more severely affected by gender-based and sexualised violence. As well as being subjected to domestic violence and forced early marriage, they also experience economic violence, such as deliberate withholding of money. Shame, stigma or the loss of social networks are among the reasons which prevent them from taking action against this violence.

Poverty and a lack of prospects

The life of many refugees or displaced people is characterised by a lack of prospects and increasing economic pressure, felt in particular by women and girls and within female-led households. The number of suicides in the region’s IDP/refugee shelters has been increasing at a worrying rate since the end of 2020. And in the same period there has also been a growing number of people in the host communities taking their own lives.

For years, women’s rights activists in Iraq have been working for the rights and protection of women and girls. In the KRI they have succeeded in having state institutions established to oversee the implementation of women’s rights. In 2011 a law was passed to criminalise domestic violence in the KRI. In central Iraq the passage of a similar law has been blocked by the parliament since 2019. Iraq was one of the first countries in the region to devise a national action plan to implement UN Resolution 1325. A first Strategy Plan against Gender-based Violence was drawn up at the beginning of 2022.

(Status of: 10/2022)

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Partner organisations:

• EMMA - Organisation for Human Development, Consortium partner
• Haukari, with local partner organisations Khanzad and PDO.

Project regions:

• Kurdish Autonomous Region

Project priorities:

• Establishment of a protective environment for women affected by violence and their children
• Development of a concept for staff self-care in a conflict region
• Support and counselling for women with gender-specific experiences of violence in IDP/refugee shelters and host communities

Funding and funders:

• German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
• Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ GmbH)
• Own resources

Source: Annual Report 2021

Since 2018, medica mondiale has been working together with the women’s rights organisation EMMA. It pursues the aims of eliminating gender-based violence and empowering women. In Erbil, Dohuk and Shekhan, EMMA has set up direct contact points for women affected by or threatened with violence. Offers of psychosocial support can stabilise and help survivors to process their experiences. Educational offers, such as literacy courses, and legal advice both assist women to lead a self-determined life. With mobile advice for women in refugee/IDP accommodation, EMMA wants to reach those women for whom access to their rights and protection is all the more difficult.

Our feminist partner organisation EMMA raises awareness among governmental institutions of sensitive issues when dealing with survivors of violence. The organisation also conducts intensive political advocacy work and networking: for the prevention of violence, the protection and rights of women and girls. EMMA explicitly engages for Yazidi women and their children born during or after their captivity by the so-called Islamic State (IS). EMMA also sensitises the social environment of survivors to their difficult situation, needs and rights.

Raising awareness for the situation of Yazidi IS survivors

The women’s rights organisation The Lotus Flower addresses Yazidi IS survivors, their families, as well as relevant community, public and political actors through targeted awareness-raising, campaigning and advocacy work on women's rights and sexualised violence. Furthermore medica mondiale advocates at institutional and political level for the application of the Stress- and Trauma- sensitive Approach in the national health system.

As part of a programme on self-care and staff care, EMMA in close cooperation with medica mondiale is developing and implementing measures for individuals and for the organisation as a whole. These help their teams to maintain a constructive and cooperative approach in the long term. In turn, this ensures that they continue to have sufficient reserves of strength to support survivors of sexualised and gender-based violence. This is particularly important as the teams operate in a context of stigmatisation and many varied social, political and economic crises.