gisw13_chapters

iraqICTs and the fight against female genital mutilation in IraqRichmond University in LondonJohn Chuawww.stopfgmkurdistan.orgIntroductionA decade after coalition forces invaded Iraq and toppledSaddam Hussein’s rule, the country is still inturmoil. Although much of the international media’sattention has shifted to conflict zones elsewhere,Iraq remains a place of extreme violence, with dailybombings, shootings and kidnappings. Over 700people were killed in April 2013 alone, according toUnited Nations data, the highest monthly figure inalmost five years. 1 Over the last six years, significantlymore civilians died from the conflict in Iraqthan in Afghanistan. 2With this as a backdrop, the issue of women’srights as they relate to information and communicationstechnologies (ICTs) in Iraq is complicated byseveral other factors. Iraq as a whole suffers froma poor record of women’s rights, despite ostensibleimprovements in recent years. Honour killings andforced marriages are not uncommon. 3 Female genitalmutilation or cutting (FGM) is also a significantproblem. For the last several years, Iraq (along withseveral other notable countries) did not even appearon the World Economic Forum’s Global GenderGap Report annual country ranking. 4 Internet usagejumped dramatically between 2010 and 2012,from 1.1% of the population to an estimated 7.1%. 5But globally speaking this is still a low percentage,with much of this increase likely from the growth ofsmartphones. In fact, only 3% of households in 2012have regular internet access. 6 The daily electricalblackouts, even in the prosperous and more peacefulKurdish north, make online access frustrating.Iraq has two administrative zones, the semiautonomousKurdish north with its own regional1 www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/05/201351951234492490.html2 musingsoniraq.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/iraq-still-far-deadlierplace-than.html3 travel.state.gov/travel/tips/safety/safety_5485.html4 www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GenderGap_Report_2012.pdf5 www.internetworldstats.com/me/iq.htm6 www.nytimes.com/2012/04/16/technology/iraq-emerges-fromisolation-as-telecommunications-hub.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0government, and the rest of the country ruled fromBaghdad. Kurdistan was one of the results of thefirst Gulf War, when the UN declared a no-fly zoneacross the north, protecting the Kurds from Saddam.Since then, Kurdistan has developed separatelyfrom the rest of Iraq, establishing its own armedforces as well as judicial and political systems. Today,Kurdistan is using its energy wealth to developeconomically.Founded by Germans and staffed by Iraqis, theNGO Wadi has been working in Kurdistan since1992, helping to build schools, provide accessto electricity and clean water, as well as improvewomen’s health. Wadi also has a radio station withprogrammes for and created by women and youth.Initially Wadi was not involved with the issue of FGM,but during a meeting in 2004 with female villagers,several of them mentioned medical problems associatedwith FGM. Wadi followed this up with a pilotstudy revealing that 907 out of 1,544 women acrossvillages were victims of FGM. 7 Since 2004, Wadi hastaken a leading role in the fight against FGM, focusinginitially on Iraqi Kurdistan and subsequentlyacross many countries in the Middle East. This reportlooks at how an NGO incorporated the use ofICTs to put a global spotlight on a problem, which inturn led to new local laws and attitudes.Using ICTs to expose female genitalmutilationThe origins of FGM and its introduction into theregion are lost in the annals of time. The UN considersFGM a human rights violation. FGM pre-datesIslam and is not mentioned in the Koran, althoughIraqis who practise it claim it is an obligation forMuslim women. FGM, as performed in Iraq, is thecutting and removal of the clitoris, in the belief thatit preserves the “honour” of females. Women whoare uncut are considered unclean and cannot servefood or drinks. This surgery is done in a non-clinicalsetting with only a knife and a handful of ash toseal the wound. The procedure is so dangerous thatsome victims die from the pain or from infections.Those who survive suffer from psychological, physicaland sexual traumas.7 stopfgmmiddleeast.wordpress.com/background/how-it-all-started139 / Global Information Society Watch