Women and Peace in Iraq Opportunities, Challenges and Prospects for A Better Future | ||
| Journal of University of Anbar for Humanities | ||
| Article 21, Volume 2022, Issue 2, June 2022, Pages 1399-1453 PDF (948.27 K) | ||
| Document Type: Research Paper | ||
| DOI: 10.37653/juah.2022.174771 | ||
| Authors | ||
| Zeynep N. Kaya* 1; Ilham Makki Hammadi* 2 | ||
| 1SOAS University of London- UK | ||
| 2Ministry of Education/ The open Educational college | ||
| Abstract | ||
| We talked to 91 women (and some men) activists, civil society representatives, journalists, legal experts and academics in Baghdad, Basra, Erbil, Kirkuk, Najaf and Nineveh. We listened to what they had to say about peace and justice, existing challenges to achieving these, and how the challenges can and should be overcome. We adopted a lens that focuses on women and gender and through this lens we looked at the processes of formal and informal peacebuilding and transitional justice. As expected, the research showed that Iraqi activists have valuable insights to offer when it comes to issues of peace and justice in Iraq. It also showed that Iraqi peace activists work hard, indeed harder than the government, and make real change and impact on the ground. However, despite the impressiveness and value of this work, it remains small-scale and unnoticed as it is surrounded by a large web of ‘continuum of violence’,[i] legal and institutional obstacles, long-term gendered structural context, social gender norms and a political establishment that adheres to a conservative and patriarchal interpretation of religious and tribal norms. The obstacles and limitations to women’s participation in peacebuilding are immense and manifold, but these have not stopped Iraqi women in the past and will not stop them today or in the future either. Several important insights and lessons emerged from our conversations. It is impossible to do justice to all that rich and incredible knowledge, experience, and wisdom. However, here is an attempt to summarise the most important messages to emerge out of these: First, this research showed that there is a rich plethora of definitions of peace in Iraq. Peace activities are defined in a comprehensive way by women and men in Iraq, which goes well beyond the narrow, formal conceptions of peace and justice.. Second, Iraqi activists define and understand peace and its relationship to justice in different ways and these depend on the line of work they pursue, the circumstances of the province, and the specific community, group or people and issue under discussion. Women peace activists and feminists call for a proper implementation of CEDAW and other international human rights principles that affect women and girls. However, this does not mean that they endorse the political agendas pursued by foreign states. Women peace and rights activities are stuck in a complicated place defined by the intersection of foreign funding and international/regional politics and this creates significant potential risks for them. Third, so much existing peace work is going unnoticed in Iraq in which women and men of all ages, but especially the young, are working relentlessly. Despite difficult circumstances, these individuals and groups carry out impressive voluntary work often in collaboration with local civil society organisations. Fourth, formal peacebuilding mechanisms, on the other hand, such as the Committee for Coexistence and Community Peace, had less positive attributes compared to their informal counterparts. Some of the local peace committees have carried out important work and have been more inclusive than the other formal mechanisms such as the Martyrs Foundation. Still, formal mechanisms are less inclusive and informal mechanisms, and only a small number of women take part in them. Fifth, opinion is divided about the Iraqi National Plan regarding resolution 1325, which was seen by respondents as another form of formal peacebuilding. The Plan is considered to be a huge achievement in bringing the issue of women’s participation in peace processes to the political agenda. However, the Plan has not made a real impact and has not changed the status of women’s participation in formal peacebuilding and negotiations in Iraq. Some of the respondents, including women civil society representatives, had not even heard of the Plan while others had heard of it in name only but not witnessed any of its work. Most of the work and discussion in relation to INAP takes place in Baghdad and Erbil. However, the Plan mostly remains unimplemented due to a lack of political will and a limited budget to fund its activities. Sixth, there is huge discrepancy between existing transitional justice mechanisms used by the Iraqi government and what respondents called ‘real justice’, as well as legal discrimination against women, a lack of legal protection for women, and the lack of punishment for perpetrators of violence against women. Respondents provided a much wider scope of issues and activities in relation to peace and transitional justice, issues that go beyond the formal justice procedures offered by the government. Seventh, customary rules have a significant impact on women’s participation in peacebuilding by limiting women’s participation in public life [i]Cockburn, Cynthia, 2004. ‘The Continuum of Violence: A Gender Perspective on War and Peace’. In Sites of Violence: Gender and Conflict Zones, eds. W. Giles and J. Hyndman. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA, 24-44. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| women; peace; Iraq | ||
| References | ||
|
Al-Ali and Pratt 2009; UN Iraq (2015) Women in Iraq Factsheet: Displaced Women and Women in Conflict.
Although cases of women experiencing this is reported more than men’s probably due to the greater stigma around the rape of men. Nadje Al-Ali (2018) Sexual violence in Iraq: challenges for transnational feminist politics. European Journal of Women’s Studies 25(1): 10-27.
Botha, Louis (2011). Mixing methods as a process towards indigenous methodologies. International Journal of Social Research Methodology 14(4): 313-325.
Cockburn, Cynthia, 2004. ‘The Continuum of Violence: A Gender Perspective on War and Peace’. In Sites of Violence: Gender and Conflict Zones, eds. W. Giles and J. Hyndman. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA, 24-44.
Council on Foreign Relations (2020) Women’s Participation in Peace Processes.
Council on Foreign Relations (2020) Women’s participation in peace processes.
Dodge, Toby (2013) Iraq: From War to A New Authoritarianism. London: Adelphi Series.
Efrati, Noga (2012) Women in Iraq: Past Meets Present. Columbia University Press.
Gender-Sensitive National Reconciliation Platform (2018) Her Role: A Strategy for Peace. National Democratic Institute.
Haley Bobseine (2019) Tribal Justice in a Fragile Iraq. The Century Foundation, p. 4.
Helen O’Connell (2011) What are the opportunities to promote gender equity and equality in conflict-affected and fragile states? Insights from a review of evidence. Gender and Development 19(3): 455-466, p. 455; Khodary 2016, p. 501.
Hiba Qasas, Humanitarian actors highlight women’s role in recovery and peacebuilding in Iraq. Speech. UN Women News and Events, 20 September 2017.
Iraqi Women Network (2019) Iraqi Women Challenges of Security, Peace and Justice. Shadow Report to the CEDAW Committee.
Iraqi Women Network (2019) Iraqi Women Challenges of Security, Peace and Justice. Shadow Report to the CEDAW Committee, pp. 7-8.
Jana Krause and Cynthia Enloe (2015) A wealth of expertise and lived experience. International Feminist Journal of Politics 17(2): 328-338, p. 329.
Kristin Perry (2020) Securing the participation of women in Iraq’s reconciliation program. Policy Brief. MERI. Vol. 4, No. 36, p. 2.
Louis Botha (2011). Mixing methods as a process towards indigenous methodologies. International Journal of Social Research Methodology 14(4): 313-325.
Maisel, Sebastian (2008) Social change amidst terror and discrimination: Yezidis in the new Iraq. The Middle East Institute Policy Brief, 18:1-9.
Marie O’Reilly, et al. (2015) Reimagining Peacemaking: Women’s Roles in Peace Processes. International Peace Institute.
Nadje Al-Ali (2012) The Iraqi women’s movement: past and contemporary perspectives. In: Pernille Arenfeldt and Nawar Al-Hassan Golley (eds.) Mapping Arab Women’s Movements: A Century of Transformations from Within. Cairo Scholarship Online, pp. 105-121, p. 106.
Nadje Al-Ali and Nicola Pratt (2009) What Kind of Liberation? Women and the Occupation of Iraq. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Noga Efrati (2012) Women in Iraq: Past Meets Present. Columbia University Press, pp. 51-55.
O’Connell, Helen (2011) What are the opportunities to promote gender equity and equality in conflict-affected and fragile states? Insights from a review of evidence. Gender and Development 19(3): 455-466.
Oxfam (2009) In Her Own Words: Iraqi Women Talk about their Greatest Concerns and Challenges. Report.
Oxfam (2009) In Her Own Words: Iraqi Women Talk about their Greatest Concerns and Challenges. Report.
Qasas, Hiba (2017) Humanitarian actors highlight women’s role in recovery and peacebuilding in Iraq. Speech. UN Women News and Events, 20 September.
Robbie Shillam (2011) Non-western thought and international relations. In: Shillam (ed.) International Relations and Non-Western Thought: Imperialism, Colonialism and Investigations of Global Modernity, New York: Routledge, pp. 1-11.
Rohde, Achim (2010) State-Society Relations in Ba’athist Iraq: Facing Dictatorship. Abingdon: Routledge.
S.E. Davies and J. True (2015) Reframing Conflict-Related Sexual and Gender-Based Violence: Bringing Gender Analysis Back In. Security Dialogue 46(6), 495-512, p. 505.
Sanam Anderlini (2007) Women Building Peace: What They Do, Why It Matters. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publisher.
Sebastian Maisel (2008) Social change amidst terror and discrimination: Yezidis in the new Iraq. The Middle East Institute Policy Brief, 18: 1-9.
Shillam, Robbie (2011) Non-western thought and international relations. In: Shillam (ed.) International Relations and Non-Western Thought: Imperialism, Colonialism and Investigations of Global Modernity, New York: Routledge, pp. 1-11.
Sitkin et al. (2019) ‘To destroy a people’: sexual violence as a form of genocide in the conflicts of Bosnia, Rwanda and Chile. Aggression and Violent Behavior 46: 219-224; Zeynep N. Kaya (2019) Iraq’s Yazidis and ISIS: The Causes and Consequences of Sexual Violence in Conflict. LSE Middle East Centre Report. London, p. 14; Hanan Tabbara and Garrett Rubin (2018) Women on the Frontlines of Conflict Resolutions and Negotiation: Community Voices from Syria, Iraq and Yemen. Academic Paper. UN Women, p. 19
Sitkin, Rachel A., Lee, Bandy X. and Lee, Grace (2019) ‘To destroy a people’: sexual violence as a form of genocide in the conflicts of Bosnia, Rwanda and Chile. Aggression and Violent Behavior 46: 219-224.
Tabbara, Hanan and Rubin, Garrett (2018) Women on the Frontlines of Conflict Resolutions and Negotiation: Community Voices from Syria, Iraq and Yemen. Academic Paper. UN Women.
Toby Dodge (2013) Iraq: From War to A New Authoritarianism. London: Adelphi Series.
UN Iraq (2015) Women in Iraq Factsheet: Displaced Women and Women in Conflict. March.
UNAMI (United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (2020) Human Rights in the Administration of Justice in Iraq: Trials under the anti-terrorism laws and implications for justice, accountability and social cohesion in the aftermath of ISIL. Report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Baghdad.
UNDP (2020) Funding Facility for Stabilization Annual Report 2019; EPLO (2017) Civil society peacebuilding actors in Iraq. Civil Society Dialogue Network Discussion Paper, No. 12, p. 2
Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom (2019) How a collective of Iraqi women is bringing the country closer to peace, 1 Nov.
Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom (WILPF) (2019) How a collective of Iraqi women is bringing the country closer to peace, 1 Nov.
Yasmin M. Khodary (2016) Women and peace-building in Iraq. Peace Review 28(4): 499-507, pp. 499-501.
Zahra Ali (2018) Women and Gender in Iraq: Between Nation-Building and Fragmentation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 62-63. | ||
|
Statistics Article View: 201 PDF Download: 122 |
||