"Life and Society in the Kurdish Safe Haven: 
Ten Years After the Uprising in Northern Iraq" 

Meeting Summary: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Current Social
Issues in Iraqi Kurdistan Presented at a Middle East Seminar titled: "Life and Society in the
Kurdish Safe Haven: Ten Years After the Uprising in Northern Iraq" Michael Rubin,
Fellow, Carnegie Council on Ethics in International Affairs and Visiting Fellow, The
Washington Institute for Near East Policy 

July 2, 2001 
By: Michael Rubin

Northern Iraq has been effectively free of Saddam Hussein for a decade. Currently
administered in separate sections by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan
Democratic Party, Northern Iraq is a region in social flux as its residents seek to build a civil
society out of the devastation wrought by decades of uprising, war, and a dictatorial regime
in Baghdad. Simultaneously, as the only region in Iraq free from Saddam's grip, Northern
Iraq provides an interesting case study as to the challenges to be faced in Iraq when regime
change does occur in the portion of Iraq controlled by Saddam. 

As civil society in Northern Iraq has matured, there has been a development of divergent
social trends. Regarding women's issues, apparent incompatibility between nascent feminism
and rigid interpretations of Islamic traditions challenge the university-age generation of
women. For example, some women argue that Northern Iraq should no longer abide by
Qu'ranic interpretations that mandate that the inheritance daughters receive be just one half
of each brother's share. However, many male students counter this argument by questioning
the feminists' loyalty to Islam and warning that such reforms threaten to bring an "age of
ignorance" upon Northern Iraq. 

Likewise, the shattering of the region's long isolation, especially with the introduction of
satellite television reception (still banned in the rest of Iraq) has led to an upsurge in honor
killing, as girls are exposed to female models outside of their traditionally conservative
region. While many women seek to ban honor-killing all together, some of their male
university peers counter that punishment exists if it turns out the perpetrators of the honor
killing were wrong (something that will not help the female victims). 

Northern Iraq's increasing exposure to the outside world also challenges family relations.
There is increasing access to imported pornography, a trend some Kurdish officials blame on
earlier Baathist attempts to loosen the traditional morals of the Kurds. Among even educated
men, there is an immaturity regarding sexual issues which is reflected in the jokes told when
no women are present—in both subject and nuance, these jokes would be akin to something
junior high age children might tell in America. This may be a reflection of the continued
separation of the sexes. From the time they leave primary school, men and women operate in
different spheres. While some socialization does occur in the universities (when classes again
become mixed sex), there is significant peer pressure not to allow platonic friendship to
develop with women. Even after marriage, men and women operate in different worlds,
coming together only for dinner and sleep. Despite the male dominance in the working
world, the women still preserve a strong family role; husbands often jokingly refer to their
wives as "the interior minister." 

The division between the sexes is apparent in certain family issues. The responsibility for
birth control is the woman's, so long as the male wants to limit family size; many do not.
While birth control pills are available, condoms are not. Abortion is legally available when
the woman's health is in danger according to the director of one of the maternity hospitals.
"Back alley" abortions occur, according to some of my women students, though most of my
male students were not aware of this and considered all abortions against religion. 

Prostitution is very rare, though it does occur, especially among the so-called Anfal
widows—women whose husbands disappeared during Saddam Hussein's 1988 ethnic
cleansing campaign but whose bodies were never found. Because the women have no proof
of their husband's death, they cannot remarry and often live in abject poverty. Many students
were aware of AIDS, but attributed its cause to loose Western morals, especially relative to
adultery; drug abuse and homosexuality were considered less important factors. 

Other social divisions exist in society. There is a gap between the wealthy and the poor,
though almost everyone manages to feed him or herself. This gap is exacerbated by the
continuing influx of internally-displaced people whose property has been confiscated by the
Baghdad regime. Many of these people were expelled from the city of Kirkuk; they often
complain that they have become scapegoats for any social ill that befalls Northern Iraqi
society. 

Another social division occurs between the many Kurds who have been in Iraq their whole
lives and those who grew up in Iran, after their families fled Iraq following the 1975 Algiers 
Accords which allowed Baghdad to crush the Kurdish uprising. Many women from one
group will actively criticize the style of clothes worn by the other, their choice of music, or
their style of dance. 

In the universities, the recent freedoms have created challenges for a generation of
administrators and professors who have as their only models Iraqi and Iranian styles of
management and teaching. Memorization and recitation still dominate pedagogy, with
analytical thinking discouraged. However, as universities wire to the Internet and receive an
influx of those educated abroad, there is increasing friction between the Iraqi and East
Bloc-educated old guard and the younger generation, a battle the younger generation is
bound to win. 

None of these observations relate to high politics, but they give some hint as to the social
situation faced as societies emerge from the grasp of authoritarian rule in the Middle East. 
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