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Kurdish women

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Kurdish women from Pālangān village, 2012
Lady Adela (center), ruler of Halabja, meeting with Major Soane in 1919.

Kurdish women (Kurdish: Jinên/Afiretên Kurd) have traditionally played important roles in Kurdish society and politics.[1] Depended on the country in which they live, Kurdish women's rights have differed significantly. Kurdish women's rights have improved dramatically since 2000. However, despite the progress, Kurdish and international women's rights organizations have reported problems related to gender equality, forced marriages, honor killings and female genital mutilation (FGM), mainly in Iraq and Iran, where women's rights have been threatened by Islamic influence.[2][3][4][5][6]

Historical accounts

In politics

Asenath Barzani, who is considered the first female rabbi in Jewish history by some scholars, is believed to be the first known influential Kurdish woman in history. She wrote many letters and published several publications in the 17th century.

Knowledge about the early history of Kurdish women is limited by both the dearth of records and the near absence of research. In 1597 (16th century), Sharaf ad-Din Bitlisi's wrote a book named Sharafnama, makes references to the women of the ruling landowning class, and their exclusion from public life and the exercise of state power, wrote that the Kurds of Ottoman Empire, who follow Islamic tradition, took four wives and, if they could afford it, four maids or slave girls. This regime of polygyny was, however, practiced by a minority, which included primarily the members of the ruling landowning class, the nobility, and the religious establishment. Sharaf ad-Din Bitlisi's also mentioned three Kurdish women assuming power in Kurdish principalities after the death of their husbands in order to transfer it to their sons upon their adulthood.[7] While generally referring to women using degrading words, Bitlisi extols the ability of the three women to rule in the manner of males, and calls one of them a “lioness”.[8] In the court of the powerful Bidlis principality (region in Turkey), Kurdish women were not allowed into the marketplace, and would be killed if they went there, but women did occasionally assume power in Kurdish principalities after some Ottoman authorities had made some exceptions by accepting the succession in those principalities by a female ruler.[9]

In the late 19th century, Lady Halima Khanim of Hakari was the ruler of Bash Kala until she was forced to surrender to the Ottoman government after the suppression of Bedir Khan revolt in 1847. A young Kurdish woman named Fatma became chief of the Ezdinan tribe in 1909 and she was known among her tribe as the queen. During the World War I, Russian forces negotiated their safe passage through tribal territory with Lady Maryam of the famous Nehri family, who according to Basile Nikitine, wielded great authority among her followers. Lady Adela, ruler of Halabja, exerted great influence in the affairs of Jaf tribe in the Shahrazur plain on the Turco-Iranian frontier. The revival of commerce and restoration of law and order in the region of Halabja is attributed to her sound judgement.[10]

In 1993, Martin Van Bruinessen argued that Kurdish society was known as a male-dominated society, but we also find instances of Kurdish women becoming important political leaders.[11]

In society and literature

In 1858, the Kurdish writer Mahmud Bayazidi mentioned the life of Kurdish women in tribal, nomadic and rural communities. He noted that the majority of marriages were monogamous and Kurdish did not veil and they participated in social activities such as work, dancing and singing together with men. When the tribe was attacked, women took part in war alongside men.[12] In traditional Kurdish literature, both matriarchal and patriarchal tendencies are found. In the Ballad of "Las and Khazal" (Beytî Las û Xezal), female tribal rulers openly compete over a lover, while in patriarchal contexts, women are subject to male violence.[9]

Accounts of Western travellers

European travelers sometimes noted the absence of veil, free association with males (such as strangers and guests), and female rulers.[13] Vladimir Minorsky has reported several cases of Kurdish women running the affairs of their tribes. He met one of these female chiefs named Lady Adela in the region of Halabja in 1913. She was known for saving lives of many British army officers during World War I and was awarded the title of Khan-Bahadur by the British commander.[14]

Kurdish women in Turkey

Leyla Zana giving a speech at Newroz celebrations, Diyarbakir, March 21, 2007.

In 1919, Kurdish women formed their first organization, the "Society for the Advancement of Kurdish Women", in Istanbul.[15]

During the revolts of 1925–1937, the army targeted Kurdish women, many of who committed suicide to escape rape and abuse.[16] By the mid-1990s, thousands of women had joined the ranks of PKK, and the Turkish mainstream media began a campaign of vilifying them as "prostitutes". In 1996, Kurdish women formed their own feminist associations and journals such as Roza and Jujin.[17]

Leyla Zana became the first Kurdish woman elected to Parliament of Turkey in 1991. During her inauguration speech, she identified herself as a Kurd and spoke in Kurdish. She was subsequently stripped of her immunity and sentenced to 15 years in prison. She was recognized by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience and was awarded the Sakharov Prize by the European Union in 1995.

Eight Kurdish women stood successfully as independent candidates in the 22 July 2007 general election, joining the Democratic Society Party after they entered the Turkish parliament.

In 2013, The Guardian reported that 'the rape and torture of Kurdish prisoners in Turkey are disturbingly commonplace'.[18]

In 2015, pro-LGBT and pro-Feminist Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party publicly announced that they will have LGBT and Feminist candidates. Baris Sulu, the left-wing People's Democratic Party (HDP) candidate, becomes the first openly gay man to run for the Turkish parliament.[19][20]

Kurdish women in Iran

During World War I, Kurdish women suffered from attacks of Russian and Turkish armies. In 1915, Russian army massacred the male population of Mahabad and abused two hundred women. Reza Shah issued his decree for coercive unveiling of women in 1936. Government treated the colorful traditional Kurdish female custome as ugly and dirty and it had to be replaced with civilized (i.e. Western) dress. Kurds called this forced dress as Ajami rather than European.[21][22]

Republic of Mahabad encouraged women's participation in public life and KDPI launched a political party for women which promoted education for females and rallied their support for the republic.[23] In August 1979, the Iranian Army launched an offensive to destroy the autonomist movement in Kurdistan. Kurdish organizations such as Komala recruited hundreds of women into their military and political ranks. Within its own camps, Komala abolished gender segregation and women took part in combat and military training.

Over the years, Kurdish women assumed more roles in the Iranian society and by 2000, a significant number of Kurdish women had become part of the labor force, while an increasing number of females engaged in intellectual activities such as poetry, writing and music. On the other hand, some reports have been made about domestic violence which has led women to commit suicide, most commonly through self-immolation. It is believed that Iran's Islamic culture has been one of the main reasons.[24][25]

Kurdish women in Syria

Kurdish female fighters in the YPJ (Women's Protection Units) played a key role in the defense of Kobani and in rescuing Yazidis trapped on Mount Sinjar, and their achievements have attracted international attention as a rare example of strong female achievement in a region in which women are heavily repressed.[26][27][28][29][30]

Kurdish women in Iraq

The prominent Kurdish poet Goran denounced discrimination and violence against women. The first journal for Kurdish women, Dengî Afiret "Woman's Voice", was published in 1953. Following the overthrow of monarchy in 1958, the Union of Kurdish Women lobbied for legal reform in the Iraqi civil law and it succeeded in bringing marriage under civil control and abolishing honor killing. Honor killings was serious problem among Muslim communities until Iraq illegalized it. The first female judge in Middle East was a Kurdish woman named Zakiyya Hakki who was appointed by Abd al-Karim Qasim. She later became part of the leadership of KDP.[31]

During the Anfal campaign in 1988, Kurdish women were kept in concentration camps and rape was used as a form of punishment. In 1994, Kurdish women marched for peace from Sulaimaniya to Arbil and protested against the civil war in Iraqi Kurdistan.[9] After the establishment of KRG, women were able to form their own organizations and several women became ministers in the cabinet of local government. In September 2003, Nasrin Berwari was appointed to the 25-member Iraq provisional cabinet as minister of municipalities and public works, and in June 2004, she was among six women named to the 30-member transitional cabinet and in April 2005 was named permanently to that post. As the top Iraqi official in charge of municipal and environmental affairs, Berwari is considered as one of the most important figures in the Iraqi civil administration.[31]

Womens' rights activists have said that after the elections in 1992, only five of the 105 elected members of parliament were women, and that women’s initiatives were even actively opposed by Kurdish male politicians.[32] Honor killings and other forms of violence against women have increased since the creation of Iraqi Kurdistan, and "both the KDP and PUK claimed that women’s oppression, including ‘honor killings’, are part of Kurdish ‘tribal and Islamic culture’".[32] New laws against honor killing and polygamy were introduced in Iraqi Kurdistan, however it was noted by Amnesty International that the prosecution of honor killings remains low, and the implementation of the anti-polygamy resolution (in the PUK-controlled areas) has not been consistent.[32] On the other hand, women rights activists also had some successes in Iraqi Kurdistan, and it was claimed that "the rise of conservative nationalist forces and the women’s movement are two sides of the same coin of Kurdish nationalism."[32]

Renowned Kurdish women

ku

Asenath Barzani was among the first female rabbis in history. Mestureh Ardalan (1805–1848) was a Kurdish poet and writer. She is well known for her literary works. Lady Adela, Leyla Zana, Leyla Qasim, Professor Kajal Rahmani anthropologist, founder and president, Kurdistan Justice and Peace Academy in the US, champion for Kurdish rights and Feleknas Uca, are among the well known women for their role in the modern Kurdish and European politics.

Pêşmerge women

Pêşmerge forces have a female combat unit called "The Pêşmerge Force for Women". Kurdish women have struggled hard to prove their worth as tough soldiers in a traditional society and they have earned a reputation for bravery and skill in the battlefield. While they were engaged in previous battles such as capture of Sulaimaniya in 1992, the first official female unit of the Pêşmerge was formed in 1996.

Status of women

Scholars like Mojab (1996) and Amir Hassanpour (2001) have argued that the patriarchal system in Kurdish regions has been as strong as in other Middle Eastern regions.[33][34][35] In 1996, Mojab claimed that the Iraqi Kurdish nationalist movement "discourages any manifestation of womanhood or political demands for gender equality."[33][36][37][38] In 2001, Persian researcher Amir Hassanpour claimed that "linguistic, discursive, and symbolic violence against women is ubiquitous" in the Kurdish language, matched by various forms of physical and emotional violence.[39][40] In 2005, Marjorie P. Lasky from CODEPINK claimed that since the PUK and KDP parties took power in Northern Iraq 1991, "hundreds of women were murdered in honor killings for not wearing hijab and girls could not attend school", and both parties have “continued attempts to suppress the women’s organizations”. Marjorie P. Lasky also said that U.S. military personnel have committed crimes of sexual abuse and physical assault against women and they are one of the reasons why women rights have worsened in Iraq.[41] The honor killing and self-immolation condoned or tolerated by the Kurdish administration in Iraqi Kurdistan has been labeled as "gendercide" by Mojab (2003).[42]

Some Kurds in small populated areas, especially uneducated Kurds are organized in patrilineal clans, there is patriarchal control of marriage and property, women are generally treated in many ways like property.[43] Kurds generally see having large families as the ideal.[43]

Crimes against Kurdish women

Some reported issues related to women in Kurdish society include genital mutilation,[44] honor killings,[45] domestic violence,[46] female infanticide [46] and polygamy.[47] Majority of reports have come from Iraq where the Kurdish and Iraqi population have been poorly educated and illiteracy is still a big problem among citizens. However, some reported issues have not been taken seriously, this is because all reported issues are common among the populations with whom they live.

Rural Kurdish women are often not allowed to make their own decisions regarding sexuality or husbands, arranged marriages and in some places child marriages are common.[43][48] Some Kurdish men, especially religious Kurds also practice polygamy.[48] However, polygamy has almost disappeared from Kurdish culture[citation needed], especially in Syria after Rojava made it illegal. Some Kurdish women from uneducated, religious and poor families who took their own decisions with marriage or had affairs have become victims of violence, including beatings, honor killings and in extreme cases pouring acid on faces (very rare) (Kurdish Women’s Rights Watch 2007).[48][49]

Female genital mutilation

Further information: Female genital mutilation

In Iraq

map
Prevalence of female genital mutilation in Iraq for women aged 15–49 using UNICEF "Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting, 2013[50]. There is a more recent 2016 survey available[51]. Green = Less than 3%, Blue = 15-25%, Red = Above 50%. The highest prevalence rates of FGM are in Kirkuk (20%), Sulaymaniyah (54%) and Erbil (58%).

Female genital mutilation was an accepted part of Sorani speaking Kurdish and Iraqi Arab culture in Iraq, including Erbil and Sulaymaniyah.[52] A 2011 Kurdish law criminalized FGM practice in Iraqi Kurdistan and law was accepted four years later.[53][54][55] MICS reported in 2011 that in Iraq, FGM was found mostly among the Kurdish areas in Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Kirkuk, giving the country a national prevalence of eight percent. However, other Kurdish areas like Dohuk and some parts of Ninewa were almost free from FGM.[56][57] In 2014, a small survey of 827 households conducted in Erbil and Sulaimaniyah assessed a 58.5% prevalence of FGM in both cities. According to the same survey, FGM has declined in recent years.[58][59] In 2016, the studies showed that there is a trend of general decline of FGM among those who practiced it before. Kurdish human rights organizations have reported several times that FGM is not a part of Kurdish culture and authorities aren't doing enough to stop it completely.[60]

According to a 2008 report in the Washington Post, the Kurdistan region of Iraq is one of the few places in the world where female genital mutilation had been rampant.[61] According to one study carried out in 2008, approximately 60% of all women in Kurdish areas of northern Iraq had been mutilated.[61] It was claimed that at least one Kurdish territory, female genital mutilation had occurred among 95% of women.[61] The Kurdish Regional Government has strengthened its laws regarding violence against women in general and female genital mutilation in particular,[62] and is now considered to be an anti-FGM model for other countries to follow.[63]

Female genital mutilation was prevalent in Iraqi Kurdistan and among Iraqis in central Iraq. In 2010, WADI published a study that 72% of all Kurdish women and girl were circumcised that year. Two years later, a similar study was conducted in the province of Kirkuk with findings of 38% FGM prevalence giving evidence to the assumption that FGM was not only practiced by the Kurdish population but also existed in central Iraq. According to the research, FGM is most common among Sunni Muslims, but is also practiced by Schi’ites and Kakeys, while Christians and Yezidi don’t seem to practice it in northern Iraq.[64] In Arbil Governorate and Suleymaniya Type I FGM was common; while in Garmyan and New Kirkuk, Type II and III FGM were common.[65][66] There was no law against FGM in Iraq, but in 2007 a draft legislation condemning the practice was submitted to the Regional Parliament, but was not passed.[67] A field report by Iraqi group PANA Center, published in 2012, shows 38% of females in Kirkuk and its surrounding districts areas had undergone female circumcision. Of those females circumcised, 65% were Kurds, 26% Arabs and rest Turkmen. On the level of religious and sectarian affiliation, 41% were Sunnis, 23% Shiites, rest Kaka’is, and none Christians or Chaldeans.[68] A 2013 report finds FGM prevalence rate of 59% based on clinical examination of about 2000 Iraqi Kurdish women; FGM found were Type I, and 60% of the mutilation were performed to girls in 4–7 year age group.[69]

Outside of Iraq

In Iran, small-scale surveys show that the Type I and II FGM is practiced among Sunni minorities, including Kurds, Azeris and Baloch in the provinces of Kurdistan, Western Azarbaijan, Kermanshah, Illam, Lorestan and Hormozghan. The existing studies have found prevalence rates between 40 and 85% in some provinces.[70][71][72] A 2012 study in Kermanshah province of Iran suggested FGM is a common practice in Ravansars’ women, with over 55% of girls had been circumcised less than 7 years age.[73][74] A new study in 2015 had recently revealed that FGM in some selected villages was widespread among Persian, Baloch, Kurdish and Azeri women and girls (around 60% in some villages of Qeshm Island for example), especially in the villages of four provinces in the northwest, west and south of Iran.[75] A 2015 study by Kurdish social anthropologist Kameel Ahmady found and assessed a 16% rate of female genital mutilation in Western Iran.[76]

The first and so far only documentary about FGM in Iran, In the Name of Tradition, was filmed by KameelAhmady [77] during conducting the study the aforementioned study in the Kurdish and Azeri villages and neighborhoods of Mahabad, some villages of the nearby Kurdistan province and regions of Hawraman (located between Kurdistan and Kermanshah province. This anthropological documentary, now re-edited and publicly accessible alongside this study, contains recorded footage and interviews from the regions and villages of Kermanshah and Hormozgan province, and from its islands (e.g. Qesham, Hormozgan and Kish), as well as interviewing local women and women circumcisers (Bibis/ professional cutters), the documentary records the opinions of local men, medical staff, doctors, and clerics.[77]

In Turkey and Syria, where the vast majority of the Kurds live, FGM is uncommon and rare unlike in Iraqi Kurdistan. Some experts believe that this is because of their religious view. Kurds in Iraq are mostly Sunnis of the Shafi'i school of law, while in Turkey and Syria they're mostly Hanafi.[78]

Honor killings

In Iraq

In 2008. the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) has stated that honor killings are a serious concern in Iraq, particularly in Iraqi Kurdistan.[79] The Free Women's Organization of Kurdistan (FWOK) released a statement on International Women's Day 2015 noting that “6,082 women were killed or forced to commit suicide during the past year in Iraqi Kurdistan, which is almost equal to the number of the Peshmerga martyred fighting Islamic State (IS),” and that a large number of women were victims of honor killings or enforced suicide – mostly self-immolation or hanging.[80] Honor killings appear to be particulary prevalent among Iraqi Kurds, Palestinians in Jordan, and in Pakistan and Turkey, but freedom of press in these countries could over-compensate for other countries where the crimes are less reported.[81]

About 500 honour killings per year are reported in hospitals in Iraqi Kurdistan, although real numbers are likely much higher.[82] It is speculated that alone in Erbil there is one honour killing per day.[83] The UNAMI reported that at least 534 honour killings occurred between January and April 2006 in the Kurdish Governorates.[84] It is claimed that many deaths are reported as "female suicides" in order to conceal honour-related crimes.[85] Aso Kamal of the Doaa Network Against Violence claimed that they have estimated that there were more than 12,500 honor killings in Iraqi Kurdistan from 1991 to 2007, and 350 of them in the first part of 2007. He also said that the government figures are much lower, and show a decline in recent years, and Kurdish law has mandated since 2008 that an honor killing be treated like any other murder.[86][87] A medical officer in Sulimaniya reported to the AFP news agency that in May 2008 alone, there were 14 honor killings in 10 days.[88]

In Turkey

A July 2008 Turkish study by a team from Dicle University on honor killings in the Southeastern Anatolia Region, the predominantly Kurdish area of Turkey, has so far shown that little if any social stigma is attached to honor killing. It also comments that the practice is not related to a feudal societal structure, "there are also perpetrators who are well-educated university graduates. Of all those surveyed, some of them are either high school or university graduates or at the very least, literate."[89][90] In 2010 a 16-year-old Kurdish girl was buried alive by relatives for befriending boys in Southeast Turkey; her corpse was found 40 days after she went missing.[91]

Turkish courts have in some cases sentenced whole families to life imprisonment for an honor killing, in 2009 where a Turkish Court sentenced five members of a Kurdish family to life imprisonment for the honor killing of 16-year old Naile Erdas, who got pregnant after she was raped.[92][93]

A June 2008 report by the Turkish Prime Ministry's Human Rights Directorate said that in Istanbul alone there was one honor killing every week, and reported over 1,000 during the previous five years. It added that metropolitan cities were the location of many of these, due to growing Kurdish immigration to these cities from the East.[94] The mass migration during the past decades of rural population from Southeastern Turkey to big cities in Western Turkey has resulted in "modern" cities such as Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, and Bursa having the highest numbers of reported honor killings.[95]

In Iran and Syria

According to LandInfo, in Iran, honour killings occur primarily among tribal minority groups, such as Kurdish, Lori, Arab, Baluchi and Turkish-speaking tribes. Discriminatory family laws, articles in the Criminal Code that show leniency towards honor killings, and a strongly male dominated society have been cited as causes of honor killings in Iran.[96]

Amnesty International noted in 2008 that the extent and prevalence of violence against women in the Kurdish regions of Iran is impossible to quantify, but "discrimination and violence against women and girls in the Kurdish regions is both pervasive and widely tolerated".[97] According to the UN, discriminatory laws in both the Civil and Penal Codes in Iran play a major role in empowering men and aggravating women’s vulnerability to violence. The provisions of the Penal Code relating to crimes specified in the sharia namely, hudud, qisas and diyah, are of particular relevance in terms of gender justice. Many Kurdish organizations have reported that Kurdish women rights in Iran are threatened by Islamic influence.[98] UNICEF’s 1998 report found extremely high rates of forced marriage, including at an early age, in Kordestan, although it noted that the practice appeared to be declining.[99] In 2008, self-immolation, "occurred in all the areas of Kurdish settlement (in Iran), where it was more common than in other parts of Iran".[99] It was reported that in 2001, 565 women lost their lives in honor-related crimes in Ilam, Iran, of which 375 were reportedly staged as self-immolation.[99]

Kurdish diaspora

Some honor killings have also been reported among the Kurdish diaspora in the West.[100] According to an article on honour-based violence in the diaspora, published in 2012, "[i]n Europe, many, but by no means all, of the reported honour killings occur in South Asian, Turkish or Kurdish migrant communities".[101]

A report published by the Centre for Gender and Violence Research at the University of Bristol and the University of Roehampton in 2010 notes that "it is important to recognize that it is not possible to associate honour-based violence with one particular religion...or culture", but also concludes that "[h]onour-based violence remains prevalent in Kurdish communities in different locations". The report, which focused on Iraqi Kurdistan and the Kurdish diaspora in the UK, found that "the patriarchal or male-dominated values that underpin these communities often conflict with the values, and even laws, of mainstream UK society. This makes it particularly hard for second or third generation women to define their own values...Instances of HBV [honour-based violence] often result from conflicting attitudes towards life and family codes".[102] Banaz Mahmod, a 20-year-old Iraqi Kurd woman from Mitcham, south London, was killed in 2006, in a murder orchestrated by her father, uncle and cousins.[103] Her life and murder were presented in a documentary called Banaz: A Love Story, directed and produced by Deeyah Khan. Other examples include the first honour killing to be legally recognised in the UK, which was that of Heshu Yones, who was stabbed to death by her Kurdish father in London in 2002 when her family discovered she had a Lebanese Christian boyfriend,[104] and the killing of Tulay Goren, a Kurdish Shia Muslim girl who immigrated with her family from Turkey.[105] In Germany in March 2009, a Kurdish immigrant from Turkey, Gülsüm S., was killed for a relationship not in keeping with her family's plan for an arranged marriage.[106] Two well-known cases from Sweden are the case of Fadime and of Pela. 26-year-old Kurdish woman Fadime Şahindal was killed by her father, a Kurd of the Catholic faith, in 2002.[107] [108][109] [110]Kurdish organizations were criticized by prime minister Göran Persson for not doing enough to prevent honour killings.[111] Pela Atroshi was a Kurdish girl who was shot by her uncle in a brutal honour killing in Sweden.[112] In a well-known case, Eren T. killed his pregnant girlfriend in Berlin and burned her alive.[113] Hatun Sürücü was murdered at the age of 23 in Berlin, by her own youngest brother, in an honor killing, an incident which led to major public debates in Germany[114].[115][116]

See also

References

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  1. ^ "Kurdish women's movement reshapes Turkish politics – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  2. ^ Begikhani, Nazand (24 January 2015). "Why the Kurdish Fight for Women's Rights Is Revolutionary". Huffingtonpost. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  3. ^ "COMPARING IRAN AND TURKEY IN TERMS OF WOMEN RIGHTS". www.academia.edu. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  4. ^ survival, cultural. "Law and Women in the Middle East". Cultural Survival. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  5. ^ Shahidian, Hammed (2002). Women in Iran: Gender politics in the Islamic republic. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-31476-6.
  6. ^ Charter for the Rights and Freedoms of Women in the Kurdish Regions and Diaspora. Kurdish Human Rights Project. 2004. p. 8. ISBN 978-1-900175-71-5.
  7. ^ Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures: Family, Law and Politics, Brill Academic Publishers,, 2003
  8. ^ Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures: Family, Law and Politics, Brill Academic Publishers,, 2003, p. 358ff
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  10. ^ W. Jwaideh, The Kurdish national movement: its origins and development, 419 pp., Syracuse University Press, 2006.(see p.44)
  11. ^ Matriarchy in Kurdistan? Women Rulers in Kurdish History, van Bruinessen, Martin. The International Journal of Kurdish Studies6.1/2 (Fall 1993): 25-D. http://search.proquest.com/openview/f4da197d4db25ff3ba4c392bcfd9408d/1
  12. ^ Bayazidi, M; Rudenko, Margarita Borisovna (1859), Customs and manners of the Kurds, Moscow USSR (published 1963){{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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  14. ^ V. Minorsky, The Tribes of Western Iran, The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, pp.73-80, 1945. (p.78)
  15. ^ Alakom, Rohat (1995), Kurdish women, A New Force in Kurdistan, Sweden: Spånga Publishers,{{citation}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
  16. ^ MacDowall, David (2004), A Modern History of the Kurds (3rd ed.), London: I.B. Tauris, pp. 207–210, ISBN 1-85043-416-6
  17. ^ Joseph, Suad; Najmābādi, Afsāneh, eds. (2003), "Kurdish Women", Encyclopaedia of women & Islamic cultures, Boston MA USA: Brill Academic Publishers, pp. 361–362, ISBN 90-04-13247-3
  18. ^ Meral Duzgun. "Turkey: a history of sexual violence | Global Development Professionals Network | Guardian Professional". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  19. ^ "Meet The Pro-Gay, Pro-Women Party Shaking Up Turkish Politics". The Huffington Post. 8 June 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  20. ^ "Turkey now has its first ever gay parliamentary candidate". The Independent. 25 May 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  21. ^ Violence and culture: Confidential records about the abolition of hijab 1934–1943, Iran National Archives, Tehran, 1992, pp.171, 249-250, 273.
  22. ^ http://www.utoronto.ca/wwdl/publications/english/mojab_introduction.pdf Template:Wayback
  23. ^ S. Mojab, Women and Nationalism in the Kurdish Republic of 1946 in Women of a non-state nation, The Kurds, ed. by Shahrzad Mojab, Costa Mesa Publishers, 2001, pp.71-91
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  25. ^ Esfandiari, Golnaz. "Iran: Self-Immolation Of Kurdish Women Brings Concern (2006)". Rferl.org. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
  26. ^ "Female Kurdish fighters battling ISIS win Israeli hearts". Rudaw. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  27. ^ "The Fight Against ISIS in Syria And Iraq December 2014 by Itai Anghel". The Israeli Network via YouTube. 22 December 2014. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  28. ^ "Fact 2015 (Uvda) – Israel's leading investigative show". The Israeli Network. 22 December 2014. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
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  31. ^ a b Women in the New Iraq, by Judith Colp Rubin, Global Politician, September 2008.
  32. ^ a b c d https://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/pais/people/pratt/publications/mjcc_004_03_06_al-ali_and_pratt.pdf
  33. ^ a b (Mojab 1996:73, Nationalism and Feminism: The Case of Kurdistan, p70-71) fcis.oise.utoronto.ca/~mojabweb/publications/0001E478-80000012/NationalismFeminism.pdf
  34. ^ (Hassanpour 2001) Hassanpour, Amir. The (Re)production of Kurdish Patriarchy in the Kurdish Language. 2001. Accessed 5 April 2007. Available from: http://fcis.oise.utoronto.ca/~mojabweb/publications/0001E478-80000012/0695C74C-001257DC.-1/hassanpour_11.pdf page 227
  35. ^ Pratt writes similarly: "Shahrzad Mojab (2004, 2009), referring to the Iraqi Kurdish context, argues that Islamist-nationalist movements and secular nationalism both stand in the way of transformative gender politics and hinder a feminist analysis of and struggle against gender-based violence and inequalities." https://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/pais/people/pratt/publications/mjcc_004_03_06_al-ali_and_pratt.pdf
  36. ^ Lasky concluded similarly: "More widely reported are the Iraqi Kurdish nationalist parties’ "disregard of women’s issues and their attempts to suppress women’s organizations", as noted by M. Lasky in 2006." www.iiav.nl/epublications/2006/IraqiWomenReport.pdf
  37. ^ Houzan Mahmoud, representative of the Organisation of Women's Freedom in Iraq, voiced similar criticism in 2004, stating that "the Kurdish nationalist parties have violated women's rights and tried to suppress progressive women's organisations. In July 2000, they attacked a women's shelter and the offices of an independent women's organisation. Both were saving the lives of Kurdish women fleeing "honour" killings and domestic violence. More than 8,000 women have died in "honour" killings since the (Kurdish) nationalists have been in control."http://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/mar/08/iraq.gender
  38. ^ Pratt writes similarly: "There is a link between the Kurdish national struggle and the neglect of women's rights".What Kind of Liberation?: Women and the Occupation of Iraq, Nadje Al-Ali,Nicola Pratt, p.108ff ISBN 978-0-520-26581-3
  39. ^ (Hassanpour 2001) Hassanpour, Amir. The (Re)production of Kurdish Patriarchy in the Kurdish Language. 2001. Accessed 5 April 2007. Available from: http://fcis.oise.utoronto.ca/~mojabweb/publications/0001E478-80000012/0695C74C-001257DC.-1/hassanpour_11.pdf
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Further reading

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