Kurdish women’s progress in governance, society and gender equality
This micro-article is focused on Kurdistan Region, which is an autonomous region with its own parliament, government, and judicial system. In recent years, Kurdish politicians and some ‘activists’ have turned gender equality into a political marketing tool that serves two purposes. For the activists, it appears to keep them relevant with clickbait tweets, Facebook posts and their woke Instagram stories. Similarly, for politicians that are determined to portray themselves as those on the forefront of generation equality, they pander to some of these sentiments, but they tend to be meaningless in nature because they don’t translate into actionable change.
Women don’t have platforms where they can engage in meaningful and substantial discussion pertaining to their representation within governance. I was recently asked by a young undergraduate, what can women do differently within government? Increasing the number of women within government does not eradicate corruption nor the system that serves political parties, but we need women to discuss the issues that concern societal well-being, and have it reflected on a policy-making level.
Instead, we are left to the whims of non-governmental institutions that peddle western-centric and white narratives on gender issues, and are mostly tone-deaf in understanding the local customs, ideals, attitudes and behaviours. The discussion on Kurdish women, sadly, remains to be one from the perspective of victimhood, not empowerment. We often hear about cases that highlight brutality against women, exhibitions that document violence sanctioned on women, but we do not hear the voices of women that want change to be enacted.
For instance, childcare remains to be an important issue for working mothers. The prices of childcare facilities are not regulated by the government, and decent nurseries can cost as much as $600 per child. If you are a mother with two children under the age of five, you’re expected to have $1200 for childcare, while the average salary for working women remains below $1000. This might seem like a non-issue for many, but if women are to contribute to the economy and the region’s prosperity, there must be a scheme in place that supports working mothers.
When it comes to female representation within various governmental departments, the offices where power is vested, are almost entirely in the hands of men, and the women that have ministerial positions, including the speaker of parliament, tread political party lines, and are unable to (a) think autonomously (b) increase the number of women in their departments (c.) execute policies that shows their leadership (d) improve women’s access to parliament/politics.
When women ‘tag along’ for political meetings, they’re often placed there for the sake of rebuking international scorn at the lack of diversity, and not based on merit nor inclusiveness of women. In fact, it would not be far-fetched to argue that women’s progress in Kurdistan Region are only discussed within the scope of playing into a certain narrative that appeals to foreign dignatories.
The progress of all women within Middle East, and specifically Kurdistan Region will always remain contingent on the willingness of locals (not expats or foreigners) and their ability enact grassroots movements that facilitates change on a social and governmental level.
Tweets, Facebook posts and Instagram stories may have a small scope of influence, but these platforms (as I will explain in a follow-up to this) are easy to manipulate, and control the trajectory of public outrage/attention.
