Women’s rights in the KRG: Q&A with Karwan Jamal Tahir

With a women’s-led revolution brewing in neighboring Iran and the Kurdish women’s slogan of “Women, Life, Freedom” (Jin, Jiyan, Azadi) being shouted in Parliaments around the globe, the focus on women’s rights and equality in the Middle East has never been more prescient.

In light of this, Dr. Shilan Fuad Hussain – a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at Middlesex University and gender studies scholar conducting research on Kurdish women – decided to conduct the following interview. It took place in late October 2022 and was with Karwan Jamal Tahir, High Representative to the United Kingdom (UK) for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq since 2015. As an integral member in the KRG’s foreign policy team, Rep. Tahir is well suited to speak on women-centered developments in northern Iraq (southern Kurdistan) and the surrounding region.

In the interview they discuss an array of relevant topics, including current laws to protect women in the KRG, the cultural significance of Kurdish women, the now famous Kurdish-Iranian martyr Jina Amini, and the role of the hijab. The answers are relevant to those seeking to understand the evolving situation of women in Kurdistan and the surrounding states.