UN Authority Figures

UN Commission on the Status of Women: Iraq

Women in Iraq generally face high levels of gender-based violence, including female genital mutilation, domestic violence, sexual harassment, murders in the name of honor, forced and early marriage, and human trafficking. These crimes continue to be perpetrated with impunity. Photo: An Iraqi woman
Source: Ceasefire Centre for Human Rights, July 2016

Mission of the Commission on the Status of Women: "The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women... The CSW is instrumental in promoting women's rights, documenting the reality of women's lives throughout the world, and shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women." (Commission on the Status of Women website, "Overview")

Term of office: 2018-2022 (Vice-Chair 2018)

Iraq's Record on Women's rights:
"Domestic violence remained a pervasive problem, and there was no law prohibiting domestic violence. The law did not always adequately protect rape victims. The law criminalizes rape (but not spousal rape)... The law allows authorities to drop a rape case if the perpetrator marries the victim.. Due to social stigma and societal and often familial retribution against both the victim and perpetrator, victims of sexual crimes did not usually report it to authorities or pursue legal remedies. International organizations reported that family-imposed movement restrictions, cultural norms, or stigmatization prohibited or discouraged female victims of sexual crimes from accessing psychosocial support services... There is no law against domestic violence. Local and international NGOs and media reported that domestic violence often went unreported and unpunished, with abuses customarily addressed within the family and tribal structure... Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C): ... NGOs reported the practice persisted, particularly in rural areas... Honor killings remained a serious problem throughout the country, although perpetrators were rarely punished. Some families arranged honor killings to appear as suicides. The law permits honor considerations to mitigate sentences. For example, a provision limits a sentence for murder to a maximum of three years in prison if a man is on trial for killing his wife or a female dependent due to suspicion that the victim was committing adultery... Due to social conventions and retribution against both the victim and perpetrator of sexual harassment, victims of sexual harassment usually did not pursue legal remedies. Because of the unequal social status of women, their fear of telling close relatives, and their distrust of the criminal justice process, victims rarely filed police complaints against their offenders. [C]onservative societal standards impeded women's ability to enjoy the same legal status and rights as men in all aspects of the judicial system... Law and custom generally do not respect freedom of movement for women..."
(U.S. State Department's Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2016, Iraq)