In Iraq, women face many challenges in every step of their lives, as they are oftentimes seen as those responsible for the advancement and welfare of our society. In a male-dominated environment like Iraq, women have to work extra hard to prove themselves in the workplace. At the same time, women here are also seen as the caretakers of the family and the family home. A woman must hence juggle both the affairs of the family and constantly prove her abilities at work more than her male peers. In addition to these obstacles, there is also the issue of harassment at work faced by many women in Iraq.
Sexual harassment in the workplace appears to be a major reason to why some Iraqi women leave their work or decide not to move up the career ladder. Many women here have lost their jobs due to sexual and verbal harassment or even extortion. What is most twisted is that the women who have been subject to harassment are oftentimes the ones who have to leave the workplace rather than the male perpetrators. The women end up leaving their jobs because they can´t stay on in unbearable work environments.
Areej Al-Nasser, 45, says she lost her job in journalism because of harassment. She says she was not the first woman to be harassed in her workplace. She refused to be a victim of a bullying harasser at work and left her job. A veteran media worker of 15 years, Al-Nasser describes how she has been home ever since and has not received any new job offers for the past two years. Today, she lives in Baghdad and has become totally dependent on her husband financially. She is convinced that harassment is widespread in many sectors of work in Iraq. Al-Nasser has hope that she will find a new job where she is respected and where harassment is not tolerated.
According to the Iraqi Women Media Forum, a civil society group, nearly 77 percent of Iraqi women have been subject to harassment, according to a survey conducted by the organization. The most striking part of the study, however, was that 78 percent of the women surveyed said that they had been subject to harassment in the workplace, but that they could not leave their jobs for economic reasons.
Bushra Al-Zwaini, a former Iraqi minister and professor of political science, calls for tougher punishment against harassers. She wants to see more severe fines for those who harass and better deterrents. According to Al-Zwaini, the Iraqi labor code is the one legislation that clearly spells out the crime of sexual harassment at work while the Iraqi penal code has it listed as an indecent act. The former minister is also disturbed by Iraq ranking high in harassment studies in the Middle East.
Today, there are several Iraqi civil society organizations that focus on the protection of women and countering harassment. According to Susan Aref, Head of the organization Tamkeen, many of the policies and mechanisms against harassment that are currently in place remain weak and need to be strengthened to better protect women. Aref emphasizes the importance of managers and executive staff going through training programs on the issue of harassment and why it can never be tolerated.
Most importantly, Aref believes that a new law that deters harassers must be drafted and implemented so that women actually dare coming forward to file complaints or press charges. At the moment, women who have been subject to harassment in the workplace oftentimes refrain from taking legal action out of fear for a scandal or losing their job and hence income.
The suffering of women continues in various work sectors in Iraq. This is mainly due to the absence of syndicates and unions with effective protection mechanisms and overall absence of the rule of law in the country. It is also due to social norms as women remain fearful to name their harassers and file lawsuits. Instead, they have to face unemployment or endure extortion and harassment at work.
