Women's rights in Kurdistan

The article Women's Rights in Kurdistan deals with the political, social, economic and legal position of women in the Kurdish settlement areas.

history

Position of the Kurdish woman

Şerefhan reported on the women of the ruling Kurdish class. Accordingly, women were excluded from public life and from exercising power. According to Islamic tradition, polygamy prevailed and women were regarded as spoils of war in armed conflicts. However, the author also mentions three Kurdish women who exercised interim rule after the death of their husbands until their sons could take over. Evliya Çelebi mentioned in the 17th century that Kurdish women were not allowed to go to the market alone, but it happened occasionally that women wielded power. Influential women in Kurdish history over the past centuries were among others: Princess Adela von Jaff, Princess Halima von Hakkâri , Princess Fatma, who was a Yazidi clan head, and Princess Maryam von Nehri, who negotiated with the Russian Empire during the First World War .

The strangeness of women in relation to the ethnic group into which they marry and the distrust of women and their sexuality as the "incarnation of the uncontrollable" ( Fatima Mernissi ) establish a complex of rules that assign women a disadvantageous position. When entering into marriage, marriage to the cousin , especially that of the father's side ( Sorani : kiç-î mam ), appears to be the ethical norm: women or daughters-in-law belonging to the same parentage are considered to be the least impure.

Especially among non- tribal Kurds, there are also jin be jin marriages (“woman for woman”), in which two men each “swap” a sister or daughter; The reason for this is often the desire dowry ( mahr ) to save. Other forms of marriage are gaure be piçuk ("big versus small"), where a woman is given to another family against the promise of a girl who is not yet marriageable at the time of marriage, and jin be xwên ("woman against blood"), where a woman is married to prevent a blood feud ; However, this leaves everyone involved with a feeling of shame, as this is a cohabitation under Islamic law . The bride money, which becomes the woman's personal property and is solely under her control, is a mandatory requirement for a legal marriage.

Today's situation by region

Kurdistan Autonomous Region

The position of women within the Kurdistan Autonomous Region differs from the rest of Iraq . A 30% quota of women in parliament and laws passed to protect women can be seen as positive steps towards equal rights for women. Kurdish women still have to struggle with the cultural ideas of a patriarchal society, but concrete plans to improve this situation have already been made by the Kurdish government. With the participation of the government in Erbil , many more women's shelters and women's rights organizations have been founded than in the rest of Iraq.

Problems with ads

A precise statement about domestic violence against women and girls cannot be made to date. Reports are rarely made to the police. This is mainly due to the local cultural conditions, which consider the mention of problems in one's own household to be crude.

More and more Kurdish organizations are fighting against sexual oppression of women in parts of Kurdish society, which are trying to remove taboos from the subject, such as WADİ or HAUKARI e. V, ICAHK , and NWE , which is funded by the German women's rights organization medica mondiale .

Legal situation

Lawsuits against domestic violence and against violence against women and girls in general encounter various barriers here. There are only a few female officers in the Kurdish police. This prevents the victims from reporting to the police right from the start, as they cannot confide in men. Nevertheless, the Kurdish government is making every effort to improve the situation and to strengthen women's rights.

Rojava

In the de facto autonomous Kurdish region " Rojava " (Western Kurdistan), led by the PKK sister organization PYD, a 40% gender quota is strived for in all areas and a decree guarantees women the same rights as men. Women and men must be "equal in all areas of public and private life," quoted the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights from the decree of Hasakeh province in north-eastern Syria.

During the fighting against the Islamic State (IS) in the civil war in Syria , the Kurdish fighters from the YPJ in particular attracted worldwide media attention and recognition.

Southeast Turkey

In the Kurdish regions of Turkey, Turkish laws apply due to the lack of autonomous self-government by the Kurds. Nevertheless, the influence of the BDP in the south-east of the country has led to extraordinary situations. In the Kurdish areas, for example, two people each run for the same post of mayor (co-mayor), a woman and a man, although Turkish local law does not recognize this. However, only 79% of the 97 mayor offices won by the BDP had mixed dual leadership and only 24% of the women were actually selected as candidates.

In the HDP , often described as the "Kurdish party", the top is also doubled, and it is the only party in Turkey with a quota for women. The social change is attributed to the feminist ideology of the imprisoned PKK boss Öcalan.

Iran

In Kordestān and other Kurdish provinces of Iran, Iranian laws apply due to the lack of autonomous self-government of the Kurds.

Web links

Nada Macourant ( Le Monde diplomatique ): Kurdish women fighters - In the autonomous region, emancipation is only making slow progress from July 9, 2015.

N. Deniz Bilgin, The tragic situation of women in Southern Kurdistan (Northern Iraq)

Individual evidence

↑ Joseph, Suad; Najmābādi, Afsāneh (Ed.): (2003), "Kurdish Women", Encyclopaedia of women & Islamic cultures, Volume 2. Boston MA USA: Brill Academic Publishers, ISBN 90-04-13247-3 , p. 358.

↑ pukmedia.com

↑ W. Jwaideh, The Kurdish national movement: its origins and development, pp 419, Syracuse University Press, 2006. (see p.44).

↑ Andrea Fischer-Tahir: "We gave many martyrs". Resistance and collective identity building in Iraqi Kurdistan. ISBN 978-3-89771-015-3 , Münster 2003, p. 34 f.

↑ Andrea Fischer-Tahir: "We gave many martyrs". Resistance and collective identity building in Iraqi Kurdistan. ISBN 978-3-89771-015-3 , Münster 2003, p. 58 f.

↑ Otto Spies: Mahr . In: The Encyclopaedia of Islam . New Edition. tape VI . Brill, Leiden 1991, p. 78b-80a .

↑ Al-Abali, Reem (2013). Women in the Islamic World . German Orient Institute. p. 57.

↑ International Rescue Committee (2012). Working Together to Address Violence Against Women and Girls in Iraqi Kurdistan ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , p.6. - Chief of a police station Erbil @1@ 2

↑ Iraq: Women's center in Halabja strengthens refugee women - supported by medica mondiale. medica mondiale, April 29, 2016, accessed on June 22, 2017 .

^ Website of the association HAUKARI e. V. ( Memento from June 21, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (German)

↑ International women's association ICHAK: Stop honor killing ( Memento of the original from January 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English) @1@ 2

↑ International Rescue Committee (2012). Working Together to Address Violence Against Women and Girls in Iraqi Kurdistan ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , p.4. @1@ 2