Broken home: women’s housing, land and property rights in post-conflict Iraq
Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi women displaced by war remain unable to return to their homes because of systemic injustices that prevent them from proving or claiming ownership of their property.
New research by the Norwegian Refugee Council reveals that displaced women are much worse off than men: they are 11 per cent more likely to face barriers impeding them from going back home after years of suffering in displacement camps since the end of the war against Islamic State group in their areas of origin.
The barriers include inability to regain access to their property, re-establish ownership and seek compensation for damaged property. Nine per cent of women surveyed across Dohuk, Ninewa, Kirkuk and Anbar governorates said their property was occupied by community or tribal leaders, militias and security forces.
Of over 1,000 women surveyed, 43 per cent rejected the statement that women had a right to own all types of property, despite Iraqi law that protects women’s housing, land and property rights. One in five women said, erroneously, that under Iraqi law women were not entitled to property following divorce, and 18 per cent said they had no inheritance rights. One in three said that in reality women received nothing following divorce and nearly one in four (23 per cent) said they had no inheritance rights in practice.
NRC surveyed 1,002 people, held 64 focus group discussions and held 59 in-depth interviews across the four conflict-affected governorates. The results also indicate that the mere suspicion of affiliation to IS group may deny women the right to prove their ownership on homes and lands even if they possess official documents.
Making their situation worse, the ongoing Covid-19 measures, including the shutdown of law courts and of legal dispute resolution services, as well as loss of livelihoods, make women even more vulnerable. A recent assessment by NRC found that 64 per cent of respondents in rented houses predicted that they would not be able to pay rent in the next three months, with 42 per cent of them expecting to be evicted as a result.
Read MoreNew research by the Norwegian Refugee Council reveals that displaced women are much worse off than men: they are 11 per cent more likely to face barriers impeding them from going back home after years of suffering in displacement camps since the end of the war against Islamic State group in their areas of origin.
The barriers include inability to regain access to their property, re-establish ownership and seek compensation for damaged property. Nine per cent of women surveyed across Dohuk, Ninewa, Kirkuk and Anbar governorates said their property was occupied by community or tribal leaders, militias and security forces.
Of over 1,000 women surveyed, 43 per cent rejected the statement that women had a right to own all types of property, despite Iraqi law that protects women’s housing, land and property rights. One in five women said, erroneously, that under Iraqi law women were not entitled to property following divorce, and 18 per cent said they had no inheritance rights. One in three said that in reality women received nothing following divorce and nearly one in four (23 per cent) said they had no inheritance rights in practice.
NRC surveyed 1,002 people, held 64 focus group discussions and held 59 in-depth interviews across the four conflict-affected governorates. The results also indicate that the mere suspicion of affiliation to IS group may deny women the right to prove their ownership on homes and lands even if they possess official documents.
Making their situation worse, the ongoing Covid-19 measures, including the shutdown of law courts and of legal dispute resolution services, as well as loss of livelihoods, make women even more vulnerable. A recent assessment by NRC found that 64 per cent of respondents in rented houses predicted that they would not be able to pay rent in the next three months, with 42 per cent of them expecting to be evicted as a result.
Kutayba, 39, from Mosul
Kutayba – Displaced since 2018
“My husband, who owned the family property, was killed during the retaking of Mosul in 2018. He bought the house from his father without a contract. Now I cannot even prove that it belongs to us,” says Kutayba, 39, who fled from Nimrud district in Mosul and has been living in a displacement camp since 2018.
“Even if the house was registered under my name, it would not change my situation. The tribal leaders have the ultimate power in our area,” she says.
She says she fears for her younger sons after losing three already.
“There is nothing to return back to. My tribe will never let me go back.”
Photo: Helen Baker/NRC
