Zahra Ali: In my book “Women and Gender in Iraq,” I show how the rise of conservative social and religious forces dates to the humanitarian crisis provoked by United Nations sanctions in the 1990s. The sanctions deeply altered the social fabric of Iraqi society and created new forms of patriarchies that were worsened by widespread poverty. The U.S.-led invasion and occupation of Iraq put in power conservative and sectarian Islamist political groups that have normalized these hyper-patriarchal norms and intensified social control over gender issues. And the militarization of the Iraqi streets with armed men at checkpoints and the proliferation of militias has created new mechanisms of social control.
However, these shocking events also shed light on dynamics going beyond exacerbated social and religious conservatisms. While the violence of Shiite Islamist groups has been largely ignored, Iraqi authorities focus primarily on the violence perpetrated by the (Sunni) Islamic State organization as “religious extremism” and “terrorism.”
In post-invasion Iraq, brutal settling of accounts among armed and tribal groups has become part of everyday life. And the weakness of the state’s institutions and the collusion of members of the Iraqi elite with tribal leaders and militia members render vain any investigation or prosecution of such crimes. More here.