Women in Iraq's Kakai Minority: the Gender Dimensions of a Struggle for Identity

Abstract

This CREID Policy Briefing provides recommendations to address the marginalisation, discrimination and exclusion faced by Kakai women in Iraq. Members of the Kakai minority have faced discrimination and marginalisation during many different periods of the Iraqi state. Prior to the US occupation of Iraq in 2003, Kakais were deported to other regions as part of a government drive to alter the demographics of Kurdish majority areas. After 2003, the Kakais faced oppression as a minority group during a long period of sectarian fighting. This oppression continued with the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist attack on Iraq in 2014. The marginalisation of the Kakais is exacerbated by a lack of legal recognition and differing views over their minority status.