Shafaq Shafaq had this interview with the Kurdish feminist activist  Roshan Hussein Mandalawi:…

* What is your assessment of the reality of Iraqi women now?
Iraqi women are still governed and bound by the inherited provisions and customs, thus limiting the legitimate aspirations which caused her to take commitments for worn traditions  which do not fit the personal and cultural reality of women.
Q: How do you see the role and rights of women in Kurdistan Region?
- I think that women in Kurdistan has got a major role compared with their counterparts in central and southern Iraq, and this comes from the practical measures taken by the Kurdistan Regional Government to reduce the use of violence against women, as well as promote the work of women's organizations in Kurdistan freely through education and enlightment of women for their rights and their duties towards  community.
* Who are the parties in your opinion that bear  the responsibility of marginalizing the role of women in various aspects of life?
- There are the extremist religious currents as well as some political parties, which tried  to eliminate the role of women in society and not to make way for it to occupy its unique position in Iraqi society.