Review Yasmin Husein Al-Jawaheri, Women in Iraq, The Gender Impact of International Sanctions, Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2008

Al-Jawaheri, Yasmin Husein, Women in Iraq, The Gender Impact of International Sanctions, Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2008

 

Women’s issues is an understudied topic in Iraq. In Women in Iraq, The Gender Impact of International Sanctions Yasmin Husein al-Jawaheri dives into how United Nations sanctions in the 1990s impacted women in the workplace, educationally and within society and the family. Part of the work was research into government and international studies and the other was surveying and interviewing 227 Iraqi women from three parts of Baghdad. She found that sanctions had a profound effect upon women driving them not only from jobs but public space as the government stepped back from protecting their rights.

Review Assyrians in Modern Iraq, Negotiating Political and Cultural Space

Benjamen, Alda, Assyrians in Modern Iraq, Negotiating Political and Cultural Space, Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, New Delhi, Singapore: Cambridge University Press, 2022

 

Iraq is one of the most diverse countries in the Middle East and yet there are very few books about the different groups outside of the Kurds that make up the population. That means that Alda Benjamen’s Assyrians in Modern Iraq, Negotiating Political and Cultural Space is a welcomed addition to the canon. She focuses upon the struggle by Assyrians to achieve their rights within the country from the Ottoman period up to modern Iraq with most of the book focusing upon the 1950s-80s.

Review What Kind of Liberation? Women and the Occupation of Iraq

Al-Ali, Nadje and Pratt, Nicola, What Kind of Liberation? Women and the Occupation of Iraq, Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 2009

 

What Kind of Liberation? Women and the Occupation of Iraq by Nadje Al-Ali and Nicola Pratt argues that Iraqi women were worse off after the 2003 invasion. It covers a myriad of issues they faced during the U.S. occupation such as violence, being targeted by religious groups, and marginalization by the new political system. The book is inconsistent and a bit dated. For all the information about how difficult it was for women in post-Saddam Iraq it goes into all kinds of women’s organizations that may not even be around today. Still it’s a worthwhile read because there are so few books on women’s issues in Iraq.

Review The Devil You Don’t Know, Going Back to Iraq

Al-Jezairy, Zuhair, The Devil You Don’t Know, Going Back to Iraq, Beirut: SAQI, 2009

 

The Devil You Don’t Know, Going Back to Iraq contains the musings of Iraqi author and journalist Zuhair al-Jezairy on his country after he returned from exile in 2003. Zuhair left in 1969 because of the Baath Party. He went to Jordan but left there in 1970 due to the government’s crackdown upon the Palestine Liberation Organization on Black Sunday. He ended up in Lebanon that then exploded in civil war. During the Iran-Iraq War he returned to Iraq fighting with the Kurds against Saddam Hussein. He eventually settled in London until he decided to go back to Iraq after the U.S. invasion. He went on to help found two newspapers Al-Mada and Aswat al-Iraq. His book is full of insights into the dramatic changes that occurred in his homeland. 

Review Iraqi Women, Untold Stories from 1948 to the Present

Al-Ali, Nadje Sadig, Iraqi Women, Untold Stories from 1948 to the Present, London & New York: Zed Books, 2007

 

As author Nadje Al-Ali wrote in her conclusion Iraqi Women, Untold Stories from 1948 to the Present was an attempt to create a people’s history of Iraq through the eyes of the country’s women. This was in contrast to traditional histories that focus upon the elite and politicians. She based her book upon interviews mostly with women in the diaspora living in several different countries such as America, Jordan and England along with some who were living in Iraq. She asked them to tell their stories about Iraq’s past and present from the monarchy to the U.S. occupation. She found that women’s social class, their political leanings, and whether they lived in the cities or in the country determined their experiences and how they remembered Iraq.

Review Familiar Futures, Time, Selfhood, And Sovereignty In Iraq

Review Pursley, Sara, Familiar Futures, Time, Selfhood, And Sovereignty In Iraq, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2019

New York University Assistant Professor Sara Purlsey’s Familiar Futures, Time, Selfhood, And Sovereignty In Iraq covers the period from the British Mandate in the 1920s to the 1958 Revolution. It can’t really be called a history however because it only touches on certain events. Rather it’s Pursley’s musings upon different subjects from how the English saw the Iraqis to how the academic system was supposed to instill nationalism and then a western form of modernity to a U.S. sponsored agricultural project to whether the Qasim government was really revolutionary to the Personal Status Law the general passed to the Monument of Freedom in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square. Her expansive vision is seen in the introduction where she talks about gender, family, nationalism, and modernization. The problem is the author’s broad approach to Iraq doesn’t ever add up to a coherent vision of the country, and its academic writing, especially at the start would alienate all but the bravest graduate student and professor.

CSIS VIDEO: Iraq's Youth And Their Future

Central & Kurdish Governments Turning Blind Eye To Sex Trafficking In Iraq

The latest annual report on trafficking by the State Department noted that Iraq remains an important hub for the sex trade and human trafficking in the Middle East. People are both shipped to and out of the country, which has only gotten worse since the Islamic State’s onslaught in the summer of 2014.

The State Department found that Iraq continues to have an active sex trade. Iraqi females are often victims of temporary marriages, where their husbands then put them into the sex trade. Syrian refugee women are often targeted for exploitation. Foreign women are told that they are going to be taken to Kurdistan for work, but are put into prostitution instead. This includes women from Iran, China, and the Philippines. Women are brought into brothels and hotels in Baghdad, Basra, and other large cities. Iraqi and Syrian refugee women are also trafficked to other Middle Eastern countries and Turkey. The Islamic State’s seizure of most of Ninewa during 2014 has only increased these negative trends. The group’s rape and enslavement of Yazidi women in that province is well documented, and continues to this day. The United States has made similar reports about the exploitation of women in Iraq for the last several years.

Prostitution rings are run by criminal gangs and family members, and are supported by members of the security forces and government. In 2014 for example, a member of the Basra intelligence directorate was accused for working with a gang involved in kidnapping and selling girls. Members of the Iraqi Security Forces, the Kurdish Asayesh, and government officials from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have all been accused of taking bribes and working with crime organizations involved in the trade. In the KRG non-government organizations said that Asayesh and Kurdish government workers were involved with a group turning Syrian women at the Domiz refugee camp into prostitutes. This is just one more example of the widespread corruption within the Iraqi government.

The State Department found both the central and Kurdish regional government’s efforts to stop the sex trade lacking. State found only limited efforts in trying to arrest and prosecute gangs involved in trafficking. The U.S. believed that was due to judges not understanding the anti-trafficking law passed in 2012. The KRG on the other hand, does not have any anti-trafficking legislation and did not endorse or adopt the one passed by the national parliament. Neither governments provide adequate services for victims of the sex trade, and instead usually arrest women and deport the foreign ones. Iraqi courts have prosecuted girls as young as nine years old and given them long prison terms from 15 years to life. In 2014 the KRG arrested 28 young girls and charted four with prostitution and 24 with begging. Neither Baghdad nor Irbil appears to be interested in this matter, and some from both governments are instead profiting from it.

The reason why Iraq has failed to adequately tackle this problem is two fold. First, the government has never taken the sex trade as a real problem. That means it has not appropriated any real resources to tackle the issue. Second, the corruption endemic within the government gives political cover to the gangs involved in the trade. The result is that the only ones ever facing the consequences are the women victims who are faced into this trade.

SOURCES

U.S. Department of State, “2015 Trafficking In Persons Report,” July 2015

NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY VIDEO: Voices of Civil Society In Iraq

Iraq Does Poorly On U.N. Human Development Report

The United Nations Human Development Report of 2014 tried to rank countries in terms of living standards, inequality, gender, and poverty. The figures used were based upon several United Nations and World Bank reports. While not all countries were included in all the indexes the statistics give a good overview of the Middle East. Unfortunately for Iraq, due to years of wars and sanctions it did not do that well.

The first category was the Human Development Index (HDI), which assessed life expectancy, schooling, and income. Out of the 18 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Iraq was third to last in the HDI with a vale of 0.642. In comparison the top three countries were Saudi Arabia, 0.836, Qatar, 0.851, an Israel, 0.888. Only Morocco, 0.617, and Yemen, 0.500, did worse. Iraq did make a jump from 1980 however when its HDI value was 0.500

Human Development Index Value

Israel 0.888

Qatar 0.851

Saudi Arabia 0.836

United Arab Emirates 0.827

Bahrain 0.815

Kuwait 0.814

Libya 0.784

Oman 0.783

Lebanon 0.765

Iran 0.749

Jordan 0.745

Tunisia 0.721

Algeria 0.717

Egypt 0.682

Syria 0.658

Iraq 0.642

Morocco 0.617

Yemen 0.500

The first category included in the HDI was life expectancy. Iraq was second to last with an average of 69.4 years. Only Yemen did worse at 63.1 years. Qatar, 78.4 years, Lebanon, 80.0 years, and Israel, 81.8 years, were at the top. Again, Iraq did see improvement going from 60.0 years in 1980 to 69.4 years in 2013. Low life expectancy could point to poor health care services that would extend people’s lives.

Life expectancy

Israel 81.8 years

Lebanon 80.0 years

Qatar 78.4 years

United Arab Emirates 76.8 years

Bahrain 76.6 years

Oman 76.6 years

Tunisia 75.9 years

Saudi Arabia 75.5 years

Libya 75.3 years

Syria 74.6 years

Kuwait 74.3 years

Iran 74.0 years

Jordan 73.9 years

Egypt 71.2 years

Algeria 71.0 years

Morocco 70.9 years

Iraq 69.4 years

Yemen 63.1 years

The second HDI category was education. Again Iraq was towards the bottom with a mean of 5.6 years of schooling. Only Morocco, 4.4 years, and Yemen, 2.5 years, did worse. Israel, 12.5 years, Tunisia, 14.6 years, and Iran, 15.2 years, did the best. Despite Iraq’s low ranking it did have a large increase in schooling from a mean of 1.5 years in 1980 to 5.6 years in 2013. Still, Iraq was known for having one of the best education systems in MENA at one time, but wars, sanctions, and poor planning have undermined funding for and building of schools. This has led to huge overcrowding with nothing to say about the poor quality of education provided in Iraq.

Means years of schooling

Iran 15.2 years

Tunisia 14.6 years

Israel 12.5 years

Jordan 9.9 years

Bahrain 9.4 years

Qatar 9.1 years

United Arab Emirates 9.1 years

Saudi Arabia 8.7 years

Lebanon 7.9 years

Algeria 7.6 years

Libya 7.5 years

Kuwait 7.2 years

Oman 6.8 years

Syria 6.6 years

Egypt 6.4 years

Iraq 5.6 years

Morocco 4.4 years

Yemen 2.5 years

The final category included in the HDI was income. The United Nations used Gross National Income (GNI) based upon 2011 purchasing power parity rates. Here there was a change as Iraq was in the middle of North Africa and the Middle East with a GNI of $14,007 per year. Iran, Algeria, Jordan, Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Syria, and Yemen all did worse with the last making only $3,945. In contrast, the United Arab Emirates, $58,068, Kuwait, $85,820, and Qatar, $119,029, were at the top. Iraq almost tripled its GNI going from $5,128 in 1980 to $14,007 in 2013. Because Iraq and many other countries in MENA are oil dependent these figures are likely skewed higher then they actually are for many individuals.

Gross National Income per capita (2011 Purchasing Power Parity$)

Qatar $119,029

Kuwait $85,820

United Arab Emirates $58,068

Saudi Arabia $52,109

Oman $42,191

Bahrain $32,072

Israel $29,966

Libya $21,666

Lebanon $16,263

Iraq $14,007

Iran $13,451

Algeria $12,555

Jordan $11,337

Tunisia $10,440

Egypt $10,400

Morocco $6,905

Syria $5,771

Yemen $3,945

The second major index included in the U.N. report was the Inequality-Adjusted Human Development Index. The U.N. was concerned that the HDI overlooked differences within societies, so it calculated inequality figures for several countries and then subtracted that amount from its HDI value. This was meant to show how much was lost in development due to inequality. Only nine countries from the region were given a value, and Iraq was again towards the bottom.

Inequality-Adjusted Human Development Index

Israel 0.780

Jordan 0.607

Lebanon 0.606

Egypt 0.518

Syria 0.518

Iraq 0.505

Iran 0.498

Morocco 0.433

Yemen 0.336

Algeria N/A

Bahrain N/A

Kuwait N/A

Libya N/A

Oman N/A

Qatar N/A

Saudi Arabia N/A

Tunisia N/A

United Arab Emirates N/A

The third major index dealt with women. First, the U.N. calculated a Gender Inequality Index value. Iraq had a high score of 0.542. Syria, 0.556, Egypt, 0.580, and Yemen, 0.733 were at the top of the list above Iraq. The country’s value was double that of five countries with the least inequality, which were Tunisia, 0.265, Bahrain, 0.253, the UAE, 0.244, Libya, 0.215, and Israel, 0.101.

Gender Inequality Index Value

Yemen 0.733

Egypt 0.580

Syria 0.556

Iraq 0.542

Qatar 0.524

Iran 0.510

Jordan 0.488

Morocco 0.460

Algeria 0.425

Lebanon 0.413

Oman 0.348

Saudi Arabia 0.321

Kuwait 0.288

Tunisia 0.265

Bahrain 0.253

United Arab Emirates 0.244

Libya 0.215

Israel 0.101

One part of the Gender Inequality Index value was based upon maternal mortality rates. Iraq was tied with Jordan for sixth most mothers dying during birth with 63 per 100,000 births. Morocco, 100 per 100,000, and Yemen, 200 per 100,000, did the worst. Israel and Qatar were at the top with just 7 deaths per 100,000 births. Again, this was another sign that many countries like Iraq lacked adequate health care. In rural areas women might not be going to hospitals and giving birth at home, which would increase the chances for complications and deaths.

Maternal Mortality Ratio per 100,000 Births

Israel 7

Qatar 7

Kuwait 14

United Arab Emirates 12

Bahrain 20

Iran 21

Saudi Arabia 24

Lebanon 25

Oman 32

Tunisia 56

Libya 58

Iraq 63

Jordan 63

Egypt 66

Syria 70

Algeria 97

Morocco 100

Yemen 200

Another part of the gender index was inequality in secondary education. The U.N. broke down male and female education rates looking at what percentages finished secondary school. When it came to female education Iraq was fourth from the bottom with 22.0%. In comparison, for men Iraq was fifth from the bottom at 42.7%. Yemen was at the very bottom with only 7.6% of women completing secondary school and 24.4% of men. Israel was at the top with 84.4% for women and 87.3% for men. Because women are not valued as much as men, and are expected to take care of home tasks they have a very low education rate in many MENA countries including Iraq.

Population with at least secondary education

Israel Female 84.4% Male 87.3%

Bahrain Female 74.4% Male 80.4%

United Arab Emirates Female 73.1% Male 61.3%

Jordan Female 69.5% Male 78.5%

Qatar Female 66.7% Male 59.0%

Iran Female 62.2% Male 67.6%

Saudi Arabia Female 60.5% Male 70.3%

Kuwait Female 55.6% Male 56.3%

Libya Female 55.6% Male 44.0%

Oman Female 47.2% Male 57.1%

Egypt Female 43.4% Male 59.3%

Lebanon Female 38.8% Male 38.9%

Tunisia Female 32.8% Male 46.1%

Syria Female 29% Male 38.9%

Iraq Female 22% Male 42.7%

Algeria Female 20.9% Male 27.3%

Morocco Female 20.1% Male 36.3%

Yemen Female 7.6% Male 24.4%

Obviously the low levels of secondary education would be repeated in the mean for years of schooling. Once more Iraq was at the bottom with a mean of only 4.4 years for women and 6.7 years for men in school. In contrast in Qatar, the UAE, and Israel women have a mean of over 10 years, while Jordan and Israel have a mean of over 10 years for men.

Mean Years of Schooling

Israel Female 12.6 years Male 12.5 years

United Arab Emirates 10.2 years Male 8.7 years

Qatar Female 10.1 years Male 8.7 years

Jordan Female 9.4 years Male 10.4 years

Bahrain Female 9.1 years Male 9.6 years

Saudi Arabia Female 8.0 years Male 9.2 years

Kuwait Female 7.9 years Male 6.8 years

Lebanon Female 7.6 years Male 8.2 years

Libya Female 7.5 years Male 7.5 years

Iran Female 7.1 years Male 8.6 years

Syria Female 6.1 years Male 7.1 years

Algeria Female 5.9 years Male 7.8 years

Tunisia Female 5.5 years Male 7.5 years

Egypt Female 5.3 years Male 7.5 years

Iraq Female 4.4 years Male 6.7 years

Morocco Female 3.2 years Male 5.6 years

Yemen Female 1.2 years Male 3.8 years

Oman N/A

The last factor in the gender index was labor force participation. In Iraq only 14.5% of women take part in the work force compared to 69.7% for men. Only Syria at 13.4% for women did worse. Even for men in the labor force Iraq was at the bottom with only Jordan, 66.2%, and Morocco, 57.4%, below it. Again, because many women are expected to do traditional work, they are not joining the labor force. This is a huge under utilization of possible workers. On the other hand, in Iraq and other oil dependent countries there are not enough jobs for either men or women, and many that are employed work for the government instead of the private sector.

Labor Force Participation Rate

Israel Female 58.1% Male 69.5%

Qatar Female 50.8% Male 95.6%

United Arab Emirates Female 46.6% Male 91.0%

Kuwait Female 43.4% Male 82.8%

Morocco Female 43.0% Male 57.4%

Bahrain Female 39.4% Male 87.2%

Libya Female 30.0% Male 76.4%

Oman Female 28.6% Male 81.1%

Yemen Female 25.2% male 71.8%

Tunisia Female 25.1% Male 70.6%

Egypt Female 23.6% Male 74.6%

Lebanon Female 22.8% Male 70.5%

Saudi Arabia Female 18.2% Male 75.5%

Iran Female 16.4% Male 73.1%

Jordan Female 15.3% Male 66.2%

Algeria Female 15.0% Male 71.9%

Iraq Female 14.5% Male 69.7%

Syria Female 13.4% Male 72.7%

Another issue included by the U.N. was the difference in life expectancy between men and women. In Iraq women outlive men 73.2 years versus 65.9 years. That was actually true for every country in the region. Female life expectancy in Iraq was fourth from the bottom and male life expectancy was the second worst in MENA.

Life Expectancy

Israel Female 83.6 years Male 79.9 years

Lebanon Female 82.3 years Male 78.1 years

Qatar Female 79.5 years Male 77.8 years

Tunisia Female 78.3 years Male 73.6 years

United Arab Emirates Female 78.2 years Male 76.1 years

Syria Female 77.8 years Male 71.8 years

Saudi Arabia Female 77.6 years Male 73.9 years

Bahrain Female 77.5 years Male 75.9 years

Libya Female 77.3 years Male 73.5 years

Iran Female 76.1 years Male 72.2 years

Jordan Female 75.6 years Male 72.3 years

Kuwait Female 75.5 years Male 73.5 years

Egypt Female 73.6 years Male 68.8 years

Iraq Female 73.2 years Male 65.9 years

Algeria Female 72.7 years Male 69.4 years

Morocco Female 72.2 years Male 69.1 years

Yemen Female 64.5 years Male 61.8 years

Oman N/A

The last part of the gender index was breaking down Gross National Income. In Iraq women had a GNI of $4,246 compared to $23,555 for men. Yemen with $1,775 for men and $6,080 for men, and Syria with $1,922 for women and $9,478 for men were at the bottom. At the top of the list was Qatar where women had a GNI of $45,863 and men $141,468. Again the huge differences between men and women pointed to the low paying jobs that most females were able to find in many nations. The figures can also be distorted because of large oil revenues and the size of the populations.

GNI Per Capita

Qatar Female $45,863 Male $141,468

Kuwait Female $43,134 Male $114,532

Israel Female $25,636 Male $35,402

Bahrain Female $24,531 Male $36,660

United Arab Emirates Female $23,903 Male $72,659

Saudi Arabia Female $16,197 Male $78,689

Libya Female $10,649 Male $32,678

Lebanon Female $7,199 Male $25,038

Tunisia Female $4.751 Male $16,226

Iraq Female $4,246 Male $23,555

Egypt Female $4,225 Male $16,522

Iran Female $4,159 Male $22,631

Algeria Female $3,695 Male $21,219

Morocco Female $3,215 Male $10.692

Jordan Female $2,875 Male $19,459

Syria Female $1,922 Male $9,478

Yemen Male $1,775 Male $6,080

Oman N/A

Only a few countries had poverty figures. The U.N. used statistics for Iraq from 2011 that had 7.4% of the population in near poverty, 2.5% in severe poverty, and 2.8% below the poverty line. Those are very low numbers, and hard to compare to the other countries because of the differing years their statistics are from.

Poverty

Yemen (2006) Near Poverty 16.7% In Severe Poverty 18.4% Below Income Poverty Line 17.5%

Syria (2008) Near Poverty 8.6% In Severe Poverty 1.5% Below Income Poverty Line 1.7%

Egypt (2008) Near Poverty 8.6% In Severe Poverty 1.5% Below Income Poverty Line 1.7%

Iraq (2011) Near Poverty 7.4% In Severe Poverty 2.5% Below Income Poverty Line 2.8%

Jordan (2009) Near Poverty 4.1% In Severe Poverty 0.1% Below Income Poverty Line 0.1%

Tunisia (2011-12) Near Poverty 3.2% In Severe Poverty 0.2% Below Income Poverty Line N/A

Algeria N/A

Bahrain N/A

Iran N/A

Israel N/A

Kuwait N/A

Lebanon N/A

Libya N/A

Morocco N/A

Oman N/A

Qatar N/A

Saudi Arabia N/A

United Arab Emirates N/A

The United Nations report highlights many of the problems that Iraqi society suffers from. Despite its vast oil wealth, petroleum has been more of a curse than a benefit to Iraq. Years of wars and sanctions have set back the country’s infrastructure, which will take years to rebuild. Corruption also eats away at expenditures meaning that some of these problems may never be adequately solved. Traditions also keep half of the population, women, largely out of the work force and school. Then again, the lack of a vibrant private sector means that there are few jobs outside of the government. All of these issues are shown by the fact that Iraq does poorly on almost every category studied by the U.N.

SOURCES

United Nations Development Programme, “Human Development Report 2014 – Algeria,” 2015

- “Human Development Report 2014 – Bahrain,” 2015

- “Human Development Report 2014 – Egypt,” 2015

- “Human Development Report 2014 – Iran,” 2015

- “Human Development Report 2014 – Iraq,” 2015

- “Human Development Report 2014 – Israel,” 2015

- “Human Development Report 2014 – Jordan,” 2015

- “Human Development Report 2014 – Kuwait,” 2015

- “Human Development Report 2014 – Lebanon,” 2015

- “Human Development Report 2014 – Libya,” 2015

- “Human Development Report 2014 – Morocco,” 2015

- “Human Development Report 2014 – Oman,” 2015

- “Human Development Report 2014 – Qatar,” 2015

- “Human Development Report 2014 – Saudi Arabia,” 2015

- “Human Development Report 2014 – Syria,” 2015

- “Human Development Report 2014 – Tunisia,” 2015

- “Human Development Report 2014 – United Arab Emirates,” 2015

- “Human Development Report 2014 – Yemen,” 2015

Brutal Mutliation-Murder of 15-Year Old Girl By Husband Causes Outrage In Iraq's Kurdistan

 

May 23, 2014 a husband in the Kalakji district of Dohuk killed his 15 year old wife Dunia Selman. He was a 45 year old man with two wives. According to the Kurdish News Network he cut of her breast and carved out her eyes. He then shot her several times with an AK-47, and then tied her body to a car dragging her around before fleeing. There was a protest against this brutal murder on May 29 outside the Kurdish Judicial Council in Irbil. These are pictures of the protest taken by AFP's Safin Hamed. 

(AFP)

(AFP)

(AFP)

SOURCES

Kakayi, Bestun, “15-year-old killed and mutilated by 45-year-old husband,” Bas News, 5/26/14

KNN, “Man Cuts Private Area of His Wife’s Body into Pieces in Iraqi Kurdistan,” 5/26/14

United Nations Releases New Official Unemployment Numbers For Iraq

 

The United Nations recently released a new set of official unemployment statistics for Iraq. The national rate was at 11.3%. Just over half the country’s eighteen provinces had a lower jobless rate than that. A bigger problem was that less than half the population was involved in the work force. This was especially true for women who are still handicapped by cultural and religious mores that have kept the vast majority of them at home. Another issue is that services are the largest job type meaning that Iraq is not producing much. With such a large and young population Iraq needs to develop its economy more, so that it can find meaningful employment for all.

(Wikipedia)

According to the U.N. most of Iraq’s 18 provinces were doing quite well when it came to joblessness. The official rate for the country was 11.3%. Ten provinces had a lower figure starting with Kirkuk, which was at the bottom with 2.5%, followed by Irbil 7.3%, Ninewa 7.3%, Dohuk 8.8%, Babil 9.5%, Karbala 9.6%, Baghdad 9.7%, Wasit 9.7%, Basra 10.3%, and Najaf 10.4%. The ones that were not doing so well were Salahaddin with 13.5%, Qadisiayh 13.7%, Muthanna 14.5%, Diyala 15.0%, Sulaymaniya 15.0%, Maysan 15.4%, Anbar 18.1%, and Dhi Qar 19.4%. What was interesting about these numbers was that there were no regional trends. Kurdistan for example had two of the best governorates in Irbil and Dohuk with single figure unemployment numbers, but then Sulaymaniya was the fourth worst. Likewise the south had Karbala and Wasit at 9% each, but then Maysan and Dhi Qar with two of the highest numbers.

Unemployment By Province

Iraq 11.3%

Kirkuk 2.5%

Irbil 7.3%

Ninewa 7.3%

Dohuk 8.8%

Babil 9.5%

Karbala 9.6%

Baghdad 9.7%

Wasit 9.7%

Basra 10.3%

Najaf 10.4%

Salahaddin 13.5%

Qadisiyah 13.7%

Muthanna 14.5%

Diyala 15.0%

Sulaymaniya 15.0%

Maysan 15.4%

Anbar 18.1%

Dhi Qar 19.4%

One major cause for provinces to do so badly was the high unemployment rate for women. Only three provinces had jobless numbers for females below the national level. Those were Kirkuk, 3.4%, Salahaddin, 7.4%, and Wasit 9.9%. The other 13 were in double digits starting with Babil, 13.2%, Basra 13.2%, Anbar 15.1%, Ninewa 15.7%, Maysan 16.1%, Muthanna 16.1%, Dohuk 16.4%, Irbil 19.6%, Qadisiyah 21.2%, Najaf 23.4%, Baghdad 24.9%, Dhi Qar 24.4%, Diyala 33.3%, Karbala 34.1%, Sulaymaniya 37.5%. Here there was some correlation with Dhi Qar, Sulaymaniya, and Diyala being in the bottom for both overall and female unemployment.

Female Unemployment

Kirkuk 3.4%

Salahaddin 7.4%

Wasit 9.9%

Babil 13.2%

Basra 13.2%

Anbar 15.1%

Ninewa 15.7%

Maysan 16.1%

Muthanna 16.1%

Dohuk 16.4%

Irbil 19.6%

Qadisiyah 21.2%

Najaf 23.4%

Baghdad 24.9%

Dhi Qar 24.4%

Diyala 33.3%

Karbala 34.1%

Sulaymaniya 37.5%

As could be expected Iraqi men found it much easier to find work. 11 governorates had male unemployment below the national rate. Kirkuk was at 2.3%, Irbil at 4.1%, Karbala had 6.1%, Ninewa 6.2%, Baghdad 6.3%, Najaf 7.2%, Dohuk 7.6%, Babil 8.6%, Sulaymaniya 8.8%, Wasit 9.6%, and Basra 9.9%. Those at the other end were Diyala 11.9%, Qadisiyah 12.3%, Salahaddin 13.5%, Muthanna 14.3%, Maysan 15.3%, Dhi Qar 18.7%, Anbar 18.8%. Diyala, Salahaddin and Anbar not only saw major fighting, but displacement and disruption of their local economies, which could account for their high joblessness. The south is underdeveloped, especially for provinces with little to no oil or religious sites like Qadisiyah and Muthanna. Petroleum is not labor intensive however meaning if a governorate doesn’t have other industries there is little work, which accounts for Maysan being towards the bottom.

Male Unemployment

Kirkuk 2.3%

Irbil 4.1%

Karbala 6.1%

Ninewa 6.2%

Baghdad 6.3%

Najaf 7.2%

Dohuk 7.6%

Babil 8.6%

Sulaymaniya 8.8%

Wasit 9.6%

Basra 9.9%

Diyala 11.9%

Qadisiyah 12.3%

Salahaddin 13.5%

Muthanna 14.3%

Maysan 15.3%

Dhi Qar 18.7%

Anbar 18.8%

Iraq has one of the youngest and fastest growing populations in the Middle East and North Africa. That offers both opportunities and problems for the country. Finding jobs for the young in an oil dependent country is very difficult, and Iraq is failing in this effort. Kirkuk was the only province that was doing well at 6.0%. All the others were in double digits. Ninewa was at 12.0%, Irbil 12.4%, Wasit 13.6%, Dohuk 13.9%, Karbala 14.0%, Najaf 14.6%, Babil 15.2%, Baghdad 17.1%, Salahaddin 18.8%, Sulaymaniya 19.5%, Muthanna 20.8%, Basra 21.9%, Diyala 22.3%, Qadisiyah 22.6%, Maysan 25.2%, Anbar 29.9%, and Dhi Qar 32.8%. These figures are another reason why some governorates are struggling. Again, Maysan, Anbar, and Dhi Qar were in the bottom three for both overall and youth unemployment. Iraq lacks a diversified economy. The vast majority of its money comes from the energy field that only employs 1% of the population. That means that country can’t produce enough jobs annually to keep up with the population growth. As a result these statistics will likely get worse with time unless a real move is made at economic reform. Unfortunately there is little political will to do so though since the ruling elite benefit from the current system since it makes them independent of the public.

Youth Unemployment (15-29)

Kirkuk 6.0%

Ninewa 12.0%

Irbil 12.4%

Wasit 13.6%

Dohuk 13.9%

Karbala 14.0%

Najaf 14.6%

Babil 15.2%

Baghdad 17.1%

Salahaddin 18.8%

Sulaymaniya 19.5%

Muthanna 20.8%

Basra 21.9%

Diyala 22.3%

Qadisiyah 22.6%

Maysan 25.2%

Anbar 29.9%

Dhi Qar 32.8%

Another sign of the lack of a healthy economy is the fact that less than half the population participates in the labor force, meaning people that are either working or looking for a job. Anbar does the best at 48.0%, but the fact that it has the second highest jobless level means that many of those people are searching for work. At the bottom is Dohuk at 37.6%. That is the least developed of the three provinces in Kurdistan. After that are the southern provinces of Muthanna 40.6%, Qadisiyah 41.8%, and Maysan 42.0%. The remainders are Ninewa 42.1%, Diyala 42.3%, Kirkuk 42.8%, Irbil 42.9%, Salahaddin 43.1%, Karbala 43.2%, Basra 43.6%, Baghdad 44.7%, Sulaymaniya 45.4%, Babil 45.8%, Wasit 46.8%, and Najaf 47.8%. Again there are huge gender disparities. For male labor force participation Dohuk again starts the list at 65.6%, then Irbil 69.4%, Sulaymaniya 70.5%, Diyala 71.1%, Dhi Qar 71.1%, Salahaddin 71.8%, Qadisiyah 71.9%, Kirkuk, 73.4%, Babil 73.6%, Baghdad 73.8%, Ninewa 74.2%, Basra 74.6%, Wasit 74.6%, Anbar 75.1%, Karbala 75.5%, Muthanna 75.8%, Maysan 76.1%, and Najaf 76.1%. Those compared to women at only 7.2% in Muthanna, 9.7% in Ninewa, 10.0% in Dhi Qar, 10.1% in Basra, 10.8% in Karbala, 11.6% in Dohuk, 11.9% in Maysan, 12.6% in Diyala, 12.6% in Kirkuk, 12.6% in Qadisiyah, 15.3% in Salahaddin, 16.3% in Baghdad, 17.4% in Irbil, 18.4% in Babil, 19.2% in Najaf, 19.3% in Wasit, 19.8% in Sulaymaniya, and 20.4% in Anbar. Even the best province only had one fifth of their women at work or searching for employment, and again that was in an area with horrible job prospects. The turn towards conservatism following the 2003 invasion, and widespread violence were two major reasons why women have such low numbers. This decline has been going on for decades however beginning with the demobilization following the Iran-Iraq War. Before that the Baath Party had actively sought to bring women into the work force first as part of its modernization program, and then to fill the openings left by men joining the army. Afterward however as men left the armed forces the government started talking about women returning to the home.

Labor Force Participation

Dohuk 37.6%

Dhi Qar 40.5%

Muthanna 40.6%

Qadisiyah 41.8%

Maysan 42.0%

Ninewa 42.1%

Diyala 42.3%

Kirkuk 42.8%

Irbil 42.9%

Salahaddin 43.1%

Karbala 43.2%

Basra 43.6%

Baghdad 44.7%

Sulaymaniya 45.4%

Babil 45.8%

Wasit 46.8%

Najaf 47.8%

Anbar 48.0%

Male Labor Force Participation

Dohuk 65.6%

Irbil 69.4%

Sulaymaniya 70.5%

Diyala 71.0%

Dhi Qar 71.1%

Salahaddin 71.8%

Qadisiyah 71.9%

Kirkuk 73.4%

Babil 73.6%

Baghdad 73.8%

Ninewa 74.2%

Basra 74.6%

Wasit 74.6%

Anbar 75.1%

Karbala 75.5%

Muthanna 75.8%

Maysan 76.1%

Najaf 76.1%

Female Labor Force Participation

Muthanna 7.2%

Ninewa 9.7%

Dhi Qar 10.0%

Basra 10.1%

Karbala 10.8%

Dohuk 11.6%

Maysan 11.9%

Diyala 12.6%

Kirkuk 12.6%

Qadisiyah 12.6%

Salahaddin 15.3%

Baghdad 16.3%

Irbil 17.4%

Babil 18.4%

Najaf 19.2%

Wasit 19.3%

Sulaymaniya 19.8%

Anbar 20.4%

The final mark of Iraq’s problems was shown by the domination of services as the main form of work. The country has become more oil dependent with the passage of time. That was partly due to the closing of many industries and state owned enterprises by the United States and the opening of the borders to trade following the 2003 invasion, which allowed cheap imports in and put a lot of Iraqi businesses out of work. Now economic policy is focused upon increasing the role of energy even more. Those are all major reasons why service jobs are so prominent. Najaf had the lowest rate at 28% in services, followed by 30% in Ninewa, 30.5% in Babil, 34% in Karbala, 34.5% in Kirkuk, 38% in Baghdad, 38.6% in Basra, 39% in Qadisiyah, 39.1% in Muthanna, 40% in Maysan, 40.5% in Diyala, 41% in Dhi Qar, 42.9% in Sulaymaniya, 50.4% in Dohuk, and a whopping 79.2% in Irbil. Wasit and Salahaddin were the only exceptions where farming, 31.4%, and mining/manufacturing 32.6%, were in the lead. Even then 31% of workers were in services in Wasit. Agriculture could be an industry that would offer growth, unemployment, and needed products for domestic consumption, but it has been in decline since 2003. While 13 provinces still had sizeable farming sectors, for most of them they were a very small fraction of the work available. Those were Irbil, 5.9%, Dohuk, 7%, Sulaymaniya, 7%, Diyala, 10%, Ninewa, 13.8%, Dhi Qar, 14%, Kirkuk, 15.1%, Najaf, 18%, Qadisiyah, 18%, Maysan, 20%, Babil, 24.5%, Salahaddin, 30.9%, and Wasit, 31.4%. The United States, Baghdad, and Irbil have all talked about developing farming, and some policies have been implemented, but they have not been that effective.

Employment By Sector In Each Province

Najaf: Services 28%, farming 18%, wholesale, retail, restaurants, hotels 16.8%

Ninewa: Services 30%, construction 23%, farming 13.8%

Babil: Services 30.5%, farming 24.5%, construction 13.9%

Karbala: Services 34%, wholesale, retail, restaurants, hotels 20%, construction 19%

Kirkuk: Services 34.5%, farming 15.1%, wholesale, retail, restaurants, hotels 15%

Baghdad: Services 38%, wholesale, retail, restaurants, hotels 18.2%, construction 14.3%, transportation, communication 12.4%

Basra: Services 38.6%, construction 20%, wholesale, retail, restaurants, hotels 14.1%

Qadisiyah: Services 39%, farming 18%, construction 16%

Muthanna: Services 39.1%, construction 25.2%, whole, retail, restaurants, hotels 11.3%, transportation, communication 11.2%

Maysan: Services 40%, farming 20%

Diyala: Services 40.5%, construction 18.7%, wholesale, retail, restaurants, hotels 12.9%, farming 10%

Dhi Qar: Services 41%, construction 17%, farming 14%

Sulaymaniya: Services 42.9%, wholesale, retail, restaurants, hotels 16.3%, construction 11.6%, farming 7%

Dohuk: Services 50.4%, construction 17.5%, wholesale, retail, restaurants, hotels 10.8%, farming 7%

Irbil: Services 79.2%, manufacturing 14.9%, farming 5.9%

Wasit: Farming 31.4%, Services 31%

Salahaddin: Mining, manufacturing 32.6%, farming 30.9%, construction 12.8%

The major problem with the official unemployment rate is that there are plenty of others that claim the actual figures are much higher. Not only that there is massive underemployment. The government for example is the largest employer yet many workers are hired as family and political supporters in patronage networks and are never meant to really work. They show up for their jobs and do very little and often serve only a few hours a day. That is even more reason why economic reform is desperately needed in Iraq to find futures for the ever growing populace. The industrial and agricultural sectors of most provinces are squandering away, while ineffective and lackadaisical planning is not helping. Instead both Baghdad and Irbil are set not only on building rentier states, but increasing their dependence upon oil. That’s the reason why both the central and regional governments main solution to the unemployment dilemma is to simply hire more government workers rather than diversify and deal with the root problems of the country’s economy.

SOURCES

Joint Analysis Unit, “Anbar Governorate Profile 2013,” February 2014

- “Babil Governorate Profile 2013,” February 2014

- “Baghdad Governorate Profile 2013,” February 2014

- “Basrah Governorate Profile 2013,” February 2014

- “Diyala Governorate Profile 2013,” February 2014

- “Dohuk Governorate Profile 2013,” February 2014

- “Erbil Governorate Profile 2013,” February 2014

- “Kerbala Governorate Profile 2013,” February 2014

- “Kirkuk Governorate Profile 2013,” February 2014

- “Missan Governorate Profile 2013,” February 2014

- “Muthanna Governorate Profile 2013,” February 2014

- “Najaf Governorate Profile 2013,” February 2014

- “Ninewa Governorate Profile 2013,” February 2014

- “Qadissiya Governorate Profile 2013,” February 2014

- “Salah al-Din Governorate Profile 2013,” February 2014

- “Sulaymaniya Governorate Profile 2013,” February 2014

- “Thi-Qar Governorate Profile 2013,” February 2014

- “Wassit Governorate Profile 2013,” February 2014

Iraqi Women Before And After The 2003 Invasion, Interview With Prof Nadje Al-Ali Univ of London

 

Professor Nadje Al-Ali is a professor of gender studies at SOAS, University of London. She has authored several books and articles on the history and present state of Iraqi women including Iraqi Women: Untold Stories From 1948 to the Present and What Kind of Liberation?: Women and the Occupation of Iraq, and was one of the editors of We Are Iraqis: Aesthetics and Politics in a Time of War. The Iraq War has given rise to a number of contradictory stories about women in Iraq. One is that Iraqi women were liberated and on the rise under Saddam, and then all that was reversed after the 2003 invasion as religious parties gained control and attempted to impose their views upon society. An opposing view was that Iraq was a typical Arab Muslim country where women had a secondary role, but then the Americans freed them from these restrictions. To try to provide a clearer picture of what women have gone through both before and after the fall of Saddam Hussein is an interview with Prof. Al-Ali.

1. The Baath took power in Iraq in the 1968 coup. It had a modernizing vision for Iraq, which Saddam Hussein partially implemented when he assumed control of the country. Part of that was opening up opportunities for women. That accelerated during the 1980s when many men were drawn into the military for the Iran-Iraq War. What exactly was the Baathist vision for women and what kind of policies did Saddam carry out during the 1970s and 1980s?

Iraqi women at university in Iraq in the 1970s

The Baath regime came to power in 1968, and Saddam Hussein actually became president in 1979, so there was a decade when he was vice president. The Baath Party’s ideology initially was very secular, Arab socialist, and nationalist, and I think very similar to other post-colonial secular leaders in the region like Ataturk and also the Shah of Iran. In the 1950s and 60s and 70s in many countries in the region there was a push to modernize and an understanding that this process meant pushing women into education and the labor force. This process was sped up in the Iraqi context because of the economic conditions. In the early 70s there was an oil crisis, and then afterward oil prices shot up and so all the oil producing countries had their economies boom. While some of the other countries like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait dealt with this boom and expanding economy by trying to bring in foreign laborers the Iraqi government tried to mobilize its own human resources, 50% of which was women. In the 70s there was a very strong push for women’s education. Lots of schools were built, lots of universities were built, lots of scholarships were made available to women, also to study abroad to get M.A.’s and PhD’s. There were systems in place that allowed women to have families and children and work. For example childcare was free, and transportation to work and school was free. Those were the kinds of systems put in place that allowed women to have active working lives. And when I say women I mean mainly the urban women, although in the countryside there were also literacy campaigns. There was also something called the General Federation of Iraqi Women that was like the female branch of the Baath Party, and it was responsible for implementing some of the state’s modernizing policies. For instance, it had a big campaign to raise awareness about health and hygiene, how to feed children, and it also had a very successful literacy campaign. At the end of the 70s Iraq actually received a prize from UNESCO for being the country that managed to raise its female literacy the quickest.

Saddam posing with Iraqi school girls in the 1970s

You can speak about the ideology of the Baath, which was secular and socialist in outlook with a centralized state and wanting to modernize. In other ways it was just being pragmatic. It was responding to the situation on the ground and decided that it had human resources and it should take advantage of them. Lots of Iraqi women, even those who were in opposition to the regime and who might have suffered under the regime, who I have talked to think with nostalgia about the 70s when there was an expanding economy, social-economic rights, and the state was quite generous. In my mind, it is not true that Saddam Hussein and the Baath Party lasted so long just because they brutally repressed the population. I think they also bought off the expanding middle class. In terms of social-economic rights, in terms of access to education, health care, having a house, a freezer, a car, people could do quite well if they didn’t open up their mouths. This was all in the 1970s

Than in the 1980s there was the Iran-Iraq War. During that period things changed drastically. Lots of the state funding, instead of channeling it into education, health care, and child care, it got channeled into the military, and that’s when things started to shift. But because it was such a long war where thousands and thousands of men fought and died that also meant that over a long period of time women started taking over many of the roles that men initially played not only in terms of different jobs in the labor force, but also in the state bureaucracy and administration. So women became very visible in the 80s.

There was also a shift in state ideology. It wasn’t about the good Iraqi woman being the educated, working woman like in the 70s, but in the 80s the good Iraqi woman became the mother of future soldiers. At some point, Saddam Hussein said that every good Iraqi woman should have five children. The government made abortion illegal, contraception illegal, and it gave very generous subsidies to baby foods, and things like that.

2. In 1989 the Iran-Iraq War ended and there was a demobilization of the military, and then shortly afterwards Iraq invaded Kuwait and faced international sanctions. How did those changes affect the status of women?

What really had a devastating affect upon Iraqi women was not the Gulf War in 1991, but the 13 years of economic sanctions. To my mind I feel that part of history should not be forgotten. You can’t actually understand contemporary Iraq without understanding the impact that the sanctions had on society. Lots has been written and talked about the humanitarian crisis that occurred during that period in terms of health care and education. When it came to women it really triggered a shift to greater social conservatism. That had different causes. One was that when people are fighting and struggling over resources and over jobs there is often a call for women to go back home and look after the children. That happened in Iraq where in some parts you had up to 70% unemployment. The state couldn’t afford all these generous welfare policies anymore or pay salaries. A large percentage of Iraqi women who had been in the public sector were suddenly told the state couldn’t afford them to work anymore, because they couldn’t pay for child care, transportation, and salaries. The other thing was that by the 1990s there was a huge demographic imbalance between men and women because more men had been killed in the Iran-Iraq War and Saddam’s political persecution had driven more men to flee the country. By the 90s there was 55-60% women, with many female-headed households and many widows. Before there was an extended family network that would support people, but by the 90s each nuclear family was just busy surviving.

One of the things that happened was that there was an increase in prostitution. That was also partly pushed by the regime and a class of nouveau rich and war profiteers who made lots of money from smuggling. The big impact wasn’t that suddenly there was so much more prostitution, but that there was an awareness that there was more prostitution. Eventually the regime crackdown on prostitution, because although it was initially behind creating the market for it the regime got very embarrassed when the Jordanian government complained about the number of Iraqi women who came to Jordan to work as prostitutes. Afterwards it was a matter of protecting the honor of the nation, so Saddam’s son Uday brutally cracked down on a number of prostitutes and pimps and publicly beheaded them. In the aftermath there was a panic and lots of families became very protective of their daughters, sisters, and wives. Lots of Iraqi women told me that in previous decades, female students had been able to go after school or university for coffee or ice cream with their friends, but during the 90s, they weren’t able to do that anymore. They had to dress much more conservatively. Mobility became more difficult. The dress code became much more constrained. Even more seriously polygamy increased during the sanctions period. As families were struggling to survive some families agreed to have their daughters get married to older men who had more money as a kind of survival strategy.

This shift towards greater social conservatism in the 90s is an important background in order to understand what happened after 2003. Also, lots of people had left by 2003 including many secular, educated, and middle class people, and this has had an impact on what’s going on today. 

3. After the 2003 invasion the Coalition Provisional Authority said that it attempted to make some changes to the country that would empower women as part of transforming the society. They set up a quota system for example that reserved 25% of the seats in parliament for women. Do you think the Americans were able to make any progress for women?

First we need to challenge the idea that the United States installed the quota system. The quota system was enshrined in the constitution and previously in the Transitional Administrative Law despite objections from the CPA, particularly Paul Bremer. In the spring of 2004 a delegation of Iraqi women’s rights activists went to see Paul Bremer, and asked for 40% representation in the parliament saying that women actually make up the majority of the Iraqi population. They told him that Iraqi women had played an important role in keeping the country together during the dictatorship and the Iran-Iraq War, and now women wanted a piece of the new Iraq. Bremer looked at them and said “We don’t do quotas.” It was only due to intense lobbying on behalf of Iraqi women’s rights activists and transnational women’s solidarity by international organizations and media coverage of this lobbying that the Transitional Administrative Law and later the constitution included a compromise 25% of seats quota for women in parliament. This was due to pressure from Iraqis and international groups, not because the Americans put it together.

Secondly, I personally think that a quota can be a positive thing, but not in and of itself. If a quota is the only thing there is then it is not doing that much to represent women. What has happened in Iraq is that the 25% of parliament who are women are to a large extent the wives, sisters, and daughters of male politicians. They are also often very conservative male politicians. One should say that it has allowed some outspoken women into the parliament, but that is just a small number. It’s also complicated because over a period of time women who initially looked towards how the men were voting before they put up their own hand started to develop their own views and voices and sometimes work across religious and ethnic lines with other women on some issues that are less controversial like access to health care for example or education.

On the other hand without the quota there probably would be hardly any women in the parliament. If you have conservative Islamist members of parliament you might as well have some of them be women. But that doesn’t mean they protect women’s rights, and we need to be clear about that.

Another thing to be said about the quota is that it is not applied consistently. It is applied in parliament, but not in the ministries or within any of the important committees that decide things, so it is quite inconsistently applied. A quota only really works if it is linked to other measures and policies, so if it is just a quota and everything else is gender blind then it is really only cosmetic.

4. There are many religious parties that run the country such as the Dawa, the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, the Sadrists, the Iraqi Islamic Party, etc. What kind of impact have those parties had?

I think we need to distinguish between an Islamic view, which many Iraqis were ready for because after all they had experienced a brutal dictatorship for several decades, which was secular. So as a reaction to that many people thought that a more Islamic government would be the solution. I think that the Islamist parties that have come to power post-2003 are not just Islamists but sectarian. I hold the politicians who lived outside of Iraq for a long time and were in the opposition partly responsible for the increase in sectarianism. I don’t think it’s right to say that sectarianism didn’t exist before 2003, and certainly Saddam Hussein played on sectarianism and he did stir up sectarian sentiments, but these new political parties helped by the CPA, which based the Iraqi Governing Council on ethnic and sectarian divisions, and then the first elections institutionalized sectarian politics. So it’s not only Islamism, which is already problematic, but its Islamist-sectarianism imposed from above. I think right now on one hand many people are really fed up with the Islamist-sectarian politicians, and on the other hand I think sectarianism is really deep and engrained, much more so than it was during the height of sectarian tensions in 2007.

Speaking more specifically about women clearly they are getting it from both sides. On the one hand they have now been exposed to a government that’s largely been based upon Islamist politics, which is either ignoring issues related to women or the laws around like the Personal Status Code, which is a set of laws that governs divorce, marriage, and inheritance. There is a strong push to create one that is a more conservative interpretation of Sharia law as opposed to the one before that has been in place since 1959. That one was also  based upon Sharia law, but it was a progressive reading. I think women are now being used by the Islamist government to show that they are different from the previous regime, which was secular. At the same time, women are being used by insurgents and various militia groups to show resistance to western imperialism. So women are being crushed by both sides by these conservative Islamist forces. 

Children heading to school in Baghdad (NY Times)

5. You talked about how woman had a lot more opportunities in the 1970s and 80s, and how that changed during the sanctions period. How about today because most U.N. reports that talk about women in terms of schooling and work force participation show very low numbers?

One big issue is security. Sending your children to school in general is scary for many parents. For girls, parents worry even more, especially in neighborhoods that are not safe. There are threats in terms of kidnapping, forced prostitution, and trafficking. Lots of young women are being trafficked out of Iraq. Those kinds of risks and threats and lack of security negatively impact young women’s education as well as labor force participation, because parents worry about sending their daughters out. Women do work, but there is a lot of unemployment in Iraq generally so there is competition for jobs. I have a lot of contacts in universities, and women work there, but their opportunities are very limited.

6. Looking into the future Iraq is a country that has a lot of potential. Do you see opportunities for women opening up for them in the coming years?

Defintely. Iraqi women have been extremely resourceful, creative and courageous over these past decades, and they will continue to be so in the future. There is a very active women’s movement across central and southern Iraq as well as in Iraqi Kurdistan. Women are not only lobbing for more equality and women’s rights, but they are also at the forefront of the opposition against authoritarianism, sectarianism, and corruption. I have been very impressed by some young women who are determined to educate themselves and make a difference in Iraq. However, I think that short-term, or even the next decade, will be extremely tough for women as they are squeezed between Islamists, corrupt politicians, a police and judiciary that is not very sympathetic to women’s plights, such as various forms of gender-based violence, mafia-type gangs and militia, as well as a revival of conservative tribal leaders and practices.

VIDEO: The Life Of Women In Iraq

BRITISH INSTITUTE FOR IRAQ VIDEO: Britain and the Occupations Of Iraq

Iraq Unwilling To Confront Forced Labor And Sex Trade

For the fourth straight year, the U.S. State Department has reported that Iraq has a serious problem with sex trafficking and forced labor. Women and children in Iraq have been forced into prostitution. Foreign women have also been shipped to Iraq for the sex trade, and Iraqi women have been sent abroad as well as slaves. Many workers from abroad are also coming to Iraq in increasing numbers with the growing economy, and that has opened up opportunities to exploit them. Iraq has laws against both of these crimes, but barely enforces them. That’s because the government does not consider either an important issue.

Each year the State Department releases a report on trafficking around the world. It breaks countries up into four categories. The first is Tier 1, which are nations that are complying with the minimum standards of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. Tier 2 countries are those that do not fully comply with the act, but are making efforts to do so. Tier 2 Watch List is ones that State has questions about. That’s because the number of victims is increasing, the government doesn’t provide evidence of its efforts, or has only said that it would start complying with the act the next year. Finally, Tier 3 countries do not comply with the Trafficking law at all, and are not making an effort to do so.

Most of the Middle East and North Africa did poorly in the 2012 report. Israel was the only country in the Tier 1 category. Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman were Tier 2. Iraq and Bahrain were Tier 2 Watch List. The remaining states, Algeria, Libya, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, and Syria were in Tier 3. The region has historically been a trade route for goods and people between Africa, Asia and Europe, and remains so to this day.

Iraq has a growing sex trade, which is connected to neighboring countries through organized crime rings. Women are sold within the country, and also sent to Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Iran, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia for both prostitution and slavery. There are several ways women end up in the sex trade. One is that women are raped on film, and that is used to blackmail them. Another is women are bailed out of prison or jail, and then forced to pay off their fines. Some are pushed into prostitution by their family due to poverty, debts, or a need to settle a family dispute. The two most common ways however are forced or temporary marriages, and false job offers. In the former, women are married off under false circumstances, usually to pay off money, and then put into the sex trade. In the latter, women are told that they will be given work, but instead are forced into the illegal business. There is anecdotal evidence that the trade is increasing in Iraq. In Tikrit for example, non-government organizations found women from Baghdad, Kirkuk, and Syria being sold to traffickers for $1,000-$5,000 each. Women from Iran, China, and the Philippines have also been trafficked to and through Iraq. There are several factors contributing to the continuation and growth of the sex trade in the country. One is the high levels of poverty, which leads to desperate decisions to make money. Related to that is the huge number of Iraqi refugees who are in vulnerable situations, which opens them up to exploitation. Finally, corruption opens up government officials to bribes and collusion with gangs. Organized crime grew during the 1990s as they were used by Saddam’s government to smuggle goods to get around sanctions. After the fall of his regime, gangs grew in size, as they were either associated with or grew out of militant organizations. Today, many insurgent groups rely upon crime to finance their operations, or have given up the fight, and have become full time gangsters. They use their networks that were once used to smuggle in commercial goods or weapons, to now smuggle women and children in and out of Iraq.

The huge influx of foreign workers like these into Iraq has opened up the opportunity for some to be exploited by labor scams (U.N. Radio)

Similarly, Iraq is a center of forced labor in the Middle East. People from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Pakistan, Georgia, Jordan, Ethiopia, and Uganda have all come to Iraq in recent years to find work. Some of them have become indentured workers. They are promised jobs in Iraq, but when they arrive they are threatened, get their passports and documents taken, and are told they have to pay off a debt before they can leave. Some are told that they will be going to the Gulf States or Jordan, and then end up in Iraq, or have the terms of their contract changed, and are forced to stay. Many of these people are used in construction, security, and janitorial or domestic work. In Kurdistan for example, there were women from Ethiopia, Indonesia, Nepal, and the Philippines, who were offered domestic jobs there, but were then forced into servitude. Nepal and the Philippines actually banned their citizens from going to Iraq, because of these practices. Manila just lifted this ban in March 2013. Many Arab states, especially in the Persian Gulf, have a long history of using foreign workers, and Iraq is no different. The Iraqi government, which is the largest employer in the country, offers robust pay, which leads average Iraqis to demand similar wages, much higher than in many neighboring countries. That causes local businesses to turn to cheap foreign labor instead. This is despite the fact that Iraq has a very high unemployment and underemployment rate. Unfortunately, this large wave of migrant workers is being exploited by some.

Most problematic for the State Department and the victims of sex slavery and forced labor, is the fact that the Iraqi authorities do not seem much concerned with either issue. For the last four years, Baghdad has not provided the U.S. with hard evidence that it is trying to improve the situation. It has a written plan to address sex trafficking, and passed new legislation about it in April 2012, but enforcement is weak. Officials have tried to help out some workers. In March 2012, an investigation was opened into 22 Ukrainian and Bulgarian men who were forced into working in construction, and then abandoned by their employer in the Green Zone. Each one was paid $2,000 in compensation. The Labor Ministry also paid for some awareness programs about sex trafficking, and occasionally there are stories about gang members being arrested for the crime. Otherwise, little else has been done. Many prostitutes are arrested as criminals, there are no services for victims of the sex trade or forced labor, the government is not collecting any statistics on either crime, nor trying to train law enforcement about them, and there are some officials who deny that trafficking is occurring in Iraq, or claim it is not a major issue. Iraq should have been made a Tier 3 country some time ago. It has continued to promise Washington that it will do something about trafficking in labor and sex, and has made some superficial steps towards doing that, which has kept it on the Tier 2 Watch List instead. This makes it like the many other countries in the Middle East and North Africa that have not addressed these crimes.

Iraq has a growing problem with the sex and labor trade. Sanctions and wars devastated much of Iraqi society. That created millions of poor and displaced people who are open to exploitation in the sex market. Women from other countries have also been shipped to or through Iraq by the wide range of criminal organizations that exist within Iraq and the region. Iraqi women have also been sent abroad as prostitutes. On the other hand, the decrease in violence has now allowed the economy to grow, and there is a demand for workers. Instead of using the huge pool of out of work Iraqis, many companies have instead turned to foreigners that they can pay less money to. They too are open to manipulation, because it is easy for an employer to seize their documents, and then blackmail them to work in return for the promise that they will be allowed to leave the country eventually. Corruption and the government’s lack of interest have allowed both of these practices to increase in Iraq. Until there is political will to deal with these two problems, they are likely to continue in Iraq, and flourish just like they do in the rest of the region.

SOURCES

Department of State, “Trafficking In Persons Report,” June 2012

Iraq Business News, “Filipinos can now Work in Iraq,” 3/8/13

Tijara Provincial Economic Growth Program, “Assessment of Current and Anticipated Economic Priority In Iraq,” United States Agency for International Development, 10/4/12