WUNRN
IRAQ - 10 YEARS ON - WOMEN & GIRLS
- INDICATORS
Photo: Heba Aly/IRIN
DUBAI,
6 May 2013 (IRIN) - In the 1980s, the UN says, Iraqi women enjoyed more basic
rights than other women in the region. But years of dictatorship, sanctions and
conflict, including the US-led invasion one decade ago, led to deterioration in
women’s status.
“Across the board, women are suffering more [than they used to],” said Sudipto
Mukerjee, deputy head of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Iraq.
Despite steps taken towards gender equality since 1990, Iraqi women today do
not have equal educational or employment opportunities, and too many are
subjected to gender-based violence
Due to years of war and political instability, 10 percent of households are
headed by women, most of them widowed, but many of them divorced, separated or
caring for sick spouses.
“They represent one of the most vulnerable segments of the population and are
generally more exposed to poverty and food insecurity as a result of lower
overall income levels,” the UN said in a March 2013 fact-sheet on Women in Iraq.
Education
According to the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) conducted by the UN
Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the government, the ratio of girls to boys in
primary school rose from 0.88 in 2006 to 0.94 in 2011; in secondary school, the
ratio rose from 0.75 in 2006 to 0.85 in 2011. According to IRIN calculations,
the enrolment of girls is growing at a faster rate than that of boys.
However, had Iraq progressed at the same rate as other countries in the region,
according to UNICEF, it would have already reached 100
percent enrolment for both boys and girls in primary schools - achieving the
third Millennium Development Goal of eliminating gender disparity in education.
According to Iraq Knowledge Network (IKN) survey of 2011, 28.2 percent of women
12 years or older are illiterate, more than double the male rate of 13 percent.
Young women - those aged 15 to 24 - living in rural areas are even less
educated; one-third of them are illiterate.
Employment
Similar inequality can be seen in the labour force.
According to the IKN survey, only 14 percent of women are working or
actively seeking work, compared to 73 percent of men. Those who are employed
are mostly working in the agricultural sector, and women with a diploma have a
harder time finding jobs: 68 percent of women with a bachelor’s degree are
unemployed.
The representation of women in parliament increased from 13 percent in 1990 to
27 percent in 2006, meeting the one-quarter female representation quota imposed
in 2005, but this is still far below the national target of half.
Physical Safety
Women’s health concerns have seen some gains. The percentage of births attended
by skilled personnel has risen significantly in the last decade. And the maternal
mortality rate - which at 84 per 100,000 births in 2006 was the highest in the
region - appears to have dropped significantly, to 24 per 100,000 in 2011,
according to the World
Health Organization.
Still, domestic violence, honour killings, female genital mutilation (FGM) and
human trafficking remain threats to many Iraqi women and girls. In the northern
autonomous Kurdistan region, 42.8 percent of women have experienced FGM,
according to the 2011 MICS.
In 2011, nearly half of girls aged 10 to 14 were exposed to violence at least
once by a family member, and nearly half of married women were exposed to at
least one form of spousal violence, mostly emotional, but also physical and
sexual, according to a survey
by the government and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).
For more, check out this UN fact-sheet on women in Iraq.
For other development indicators, visit IRIN's
series: Iraq 10 years on.