COMMON ANALYSIS
Last updated: June 2022

This sub-profile refers to single women, divorced women, widowed women and women heads of households in Iraq and in the KRI.

COI summary

[Targeting 2019, 3.5.5, 3.5.6; Targeting 2022, 7; KSEI 2019, 3.1.1, 4.1.1, 10.3, 10.5; Perceived ISIL affiliates, 2.1]

Living alone as a woman is not generally accepted in Iraq because it is considered inappropriate behaviour. Women living on their own will often encounter negative attitudes from society and are at a particularly high risk of violence. Women in female-headed households, divorced women and widows are in a vulnerable position economically and in terms of exposure to harassment, and have difficulty finding employment, especially if they lack the protection of a male relative and necessary connections to find employment and sustain dependent children. Women experience economic discrimination in access to employment, credit and pay equality. It is difficult for a single person to rent housing in Iraq because Iraqi society does not accept single people living alone or with non-relative families, particularly women. Women who have been repudiated by their family and lack a social support network, are considerably worse off. Additionally, the position of single women who are self-sufficient because they have a job differs from the position of unemployed and/or uneducated women.

The situation for single women may vary depending on their level of education, on whether they live in cities or not, and on their financial independence. Although it is reportedly possible for an educated woman with an income to live in a city on her own, ‘as long as she does not have an honour conflict with her family’, in practice the possibility for single women to live on their own has been reduced due to deteriorating societal restrictions and financial situation in the country. [Targeting 2022, 7.3]

Iraqi women have the right to initiate divorce by law; however breaches of the law, due to tribal and religious norms, have been reported. Financial support for divorced women is legally deficient. Although the father is the guardian of the children under Iraqi law, a divorced woman may obtain custody of her children until they reach age 10, and up to age 15 upon a court decision. Obtaining identity cards and access to services continued to be a problem for women with children conceived as a result of rape, and the lack of identity documents could lead to statelessness. Despite the recent years reported increase in divorce rate, divorced women in Iraq still face discrimination and stigma. It is customary for divorced women to return to the care of their families. However, they may be subject to abuse and stigma due to their status.

Widowed women may be harboured by their own family or by their in-laws. In those circumstances, male relatives will act as their custodian. There were reports of several cases of women who became widows after being forced to marry ISIL fighters. These widows did not have marriage certificates or birth certificates of their children and were stigmatised due to their association with ISIL. For guidance on women with perceived affiliation to ISIL, see section 2.1 Persons (perceived to be) affiliated with ISIL.

Women from female-headed households in IDP camps have been subjected to sexual violence, including rape and sexual exploitation by government forces and camp residents. Women in IDP camps have also adopted negative coping strategies like survival sex and early marriage and withdrawing their daughters from school in order to protect them from sexual abuse and harassment.

For women, there are many societal and family restrictions and any woman living outside a family community is at risk. In addition to that, to be a divorced woman in the Kurdish society is still considered to be tough and stigmatising. In the KRI, single people, especially women, are unable for cultural reasons to rent properties on their own and in most hotels, women are not allowed to stay alone. Erbil and Dohuk are both known as conservative regions with strict control of women. The USDOS annual human rights report, covering 2019, states that single women and widows in KRI but also in the rest of the country, often faced problems registering their children’s births, leading to problems accessing public services like food distribution, healthcare and education.

Furthermore, divorced women who return to live with their families may be subject to abuse and stigma due to their status.

Risk analysis

The individual assessment of whether discrimination of single women and female heads of households could amount to persecution should take into account the severity and/or repetitiveness of the acts or whether they occur as an accumulation of various measures. Moreover, being a single woman or a female head of household further enhances the risk for such women to be exposed to acts, which would amount to persecution (e.g. rape and sexual exploitation).

Not all single women and female heads of households would face the level of risk required to establish a well-founded fear of persecution. The individual assessment of whether there is a reasonable degree of likelihood for the applicant to face persecution should take into account risk-impacting circumstances, such as: personal status, area of origin and residence (e.g. IDP camps), perception of traditional gender roles in the family or community, economic situation, education, etc.

Nexus to a reason for persecution

Where well-founded fear of persecution is substantiated, available information indicates that persecution of this profile may be for reasons of membership of a particular social group (e.g. divorced women or widows, due to their common background which cannot be changed and distinct identity in Iraq, in relation to stigmatisation by society).