Suffering Without A Nation – The Plight of Kurdish Women in the Diaspora

Kurdish refugee mother near Suleymaniye, Iraq, March 1991. Image/UN cyberschoolbus

In 1999, in a call to action to help women in Iraq who faced various threats from domestic violence to “honour killings,” the Nawa Center for Women in Distress opened its shelter in Iraqi Kurdistan. Its mission is to help women who are suffering under severe psychological stress, following years of domestic violence and oppression.

Founded in June 2004, the KWRW – Kurdish Women’s Rights Watch, a network of Kurdish and non-Kurdish women and men, including community activists, academics, lawyers as well as legal professionals and journalists, works with human rights and women’s rights organizations inside and outside of Kurdistan.

The Kurdistan Women Union – KWU, located in the northern region of Iraq, has also been closely involved in the advancement of Kurdish women. Through KWU promotion of programs, Kurdish women have become more active in Kurdish parliamentary government. The number of Kurdish female lawyers is also on the rise.

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[YouTube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxA_oMhQEXE?rel=0]

A short film showing the resiliency and strength of the Kurdish woman.
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WNN human rights journalist, Lys Anzia, is an award winning American history playwright and 2006 Pushcart nominee. She is also editor-at-large for Women News Network.

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Sources for this article include Kurdistan Women Union – KWU, The Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, BBC News, Human Rights Watch, International Kurdish Women’s Studies Network, “The Solitude of the Stateless: Kurdish Women at the Margins of Feminist Knowledge” by Shahrzad Mojab, Radio Free Europe, Kurdish Women’s Rights Watch, Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies 2007 and International Free Women’s Foundation – Netherlands.

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