Sexual violence in Iraq: Challenges for transnational feminist politics

Al-Ali, Nadje

doi:10.1177/1350506816633723

Cited by 33 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 12 publications

(14 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The novel also shows how women are silenced and victimised because of structural inequalities that make it very difficult for women to speak up. The article supports the argument several feminist writers have made, namely, that the increase of gender-based violence and domestic violence is a product of the violent history of Northern Iraq (Al-Ali, 2016;Lee-Koo, 2011;Begikhani, 2003Begikhani, , 2005.…”

Section: The Wide-reaching Effects Of War and Violencesupporting

confidence: 76%

Theorising women and war in Kurdistan: A feminist and critical perspective

Begikhani¹,

Hamelink²,

Weiss³

2018

Kurd. Stud.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this introductory article to the special issue Women and War in Kurdistan, we connect our topic to feminist theory, to anthropological theory on war and conflict and their long-term consequences, and to theory on gender, nation and (visual) representation. We investigate Kurdish women’s victimisation and marginalisation, but also their resistance and agency as female combatants and women activists, their portrayal by media and scholars, and their self-representation. We offer herewith a critical perspective on militarisation, women’s liberation, and women’s experiences in times of war and peace. We also introduce the five articles in this issue and discuss how they contribute to the study of women and war in two main areas: the wide-reaching effects of war on women’s lives, and the gendered representation and images of war in Kurdistan. ABSTRACT IN KURMANJIBîrdoza jin û şer li Kurdistanê. Perspektîveke femînîst û rexnegirîDi vê nivîsara danasîner a hejmara taybet a li ser Jin û Şer li Kurdistanê de, em mijarê behsê bi bîrdoza femînîst, bîrdoza mirovnasiyê ya şer û pevçûnan û encamên wan yên demdirêj, û bîrdoza zayend, netewe û nîşane (ya ditinî) ve girêdidin. Em li ser vederkirin û mexdûrkirina jinên kurd lêkolînê dikin, her wekî meseleya berxwedan û îradeya şervanên jin û çalakvanên mafên jinan, û pirsên ku çawa medya û lêkolîner qala wan dikin û çawa ew jî xwe didin nîşan. Em her weha perspektîveke li ser leşkerîkirin, azadkirina jinan û tecrubeyên jinan di heyamên şer û aştiyê de pêşberî xwendevanan dikin. Di ber re, em danasîna her pênc nivîsarên vê hejmarê jî dikin û girîngiya wan a ji bo lêkolînên jin û şerî di du warên sereke de guftûgo dikin: encamên berfireh yên şer li ser jiyana jinan, û nîşane û dimenên zayendî yên şer li Kurdistanê. ABSTRACT IN SORANIBe Tiyorîkirdinî rewşî jinan û ceng le Kurdistan: Goşenîgayekî fêmînîstî w rexnegiraneLem çend wutare da, ke melefêkî taybete be jinan û ceng le Kurdistan, hewlman dawe ke kogîrîyek bikeyn le ruwangey fêmînîstî w tiyorîy antropolojî leser ceng û milmilanê w akame dirêjxayenekanyan le layek û herweha tiyorîy regez, netewe w têruwanînî nwênerêtîkirdin le layekî dîke. Ême xwêndineweman kirdûwe bo kêşey bequrbanîbûn û perawêzxistinî jinan. Le heman kat da mijarî berxodan û xorêxistinî jinan wek cengawer û çalakanî mafî jinan û wêney ewan le rageyandin û lenêw lêkolînewe zanistiyekan û têruwanînî xoşyan da. Ême herweha têruwanînî rexnegiraneman leser mijarî çekdarî, azadîy jinan û ezmûnî jinan le katî ceng û aştî da xistote rû. Lem melefe taybete da, pênc wutarman pêşkêş kirdûwe w eweman nîşan dawe keçon le dû layenî giringewe tîşk xirawete ser mijareke: karîgerîy firawanî ceng le ser jiyanî jinan, herweha nuwandin û wêney regezî jinan le ceng le Kurdistan da.

show abstract

Section: The Wide-reaching Effects Of War and Violencesupporting

confidence: 76%

Theorising women and war in Kurdistan: A feminist and critical perspective

Begikhani¹,

Hamelink²,

Weiss³

2018

Kurd. Stud.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…She warned that ‘privileging a critique of Western imperialism in discussions of violence against women in Muslim contexts’ risked presenting ‘women’s rights activism not just as complicit in imperialism and Islamophobia but as inescapably imperialist and Islamophobic’ (p. 77). Drawing on Abu-Odeh’s similar critique (2015), Al-Ali argues that a ‘positionality rooted in transnational feminist politics needs to go beyond dichotomous positions of macro power configurations linked to imperialism, neoliberalism and globalization on the one hand, and an attention to localized and regional inequalities and power configurations linked to patriarchy, cultural norms and religious interpretations and practices [on the other]’ (Al-Ali, 2018: 23). Her intersectional approach to the experiences of sexual violence of Iraqi women in the long period from Saddam’s era to the years of the Syrian Civil War offers an analytical model capable of making visible how ‘the struggle for women’s rights intersects with the struggle against other inequalities’ in each differentiated context (p. 13).…”

Section: Positionality and Co-optionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cologne and the (un)making of transnational approaches to sexual violence

Garraio

2020

European Journal of Women's Studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The sexual assaults reported on New Year’s Eve 2015 in Cologne posed major challenges to feminists struggling with the tensions and entanglements of feminism, imperialism, racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, sexism and nationalism. The aim of the present article is to examine these tensions through an analysis of the pressures framing the positionality of discourses. It examines how feminists, framed by the larger Western debates about the ‘failure of multiculturalism’ and the global Islamophobia underpinning the ‘war on terror’ era, engaged with the moral panic which pervaded the mediatization of the assaults. It argues that feminist initiatives like #ausnahmslos’, which situated anti-racism at the core of any engagement for gender equality, were a reaction to the femonationalist approach to the events pervading the media and the political debate, and attempts to counter arguments which associated the sexual assaults with cultural practices imported through (Muslim) immigration and which demanded (or condoned) stricter immigration laws and state surveillance of Muslims. Then, this article addresses the challenges posed by some feminists from Germany and from North African countries and/or with a Muslim background, who argued that the analysis of Cologne should address the religious-cultural background of the suspects. The article argues that the difficulty in engaging with their contributions in Germany derives from internal pressures, namely the risk of having their arguments co-opted by Islamophobic and anti-immigration agendas. By pointing at the role of positionality in defining priorities in a globalized world, this article addresses the constraints and potentials in developing transnational approaches to sexual violence.

show abstract

“…In an article on sexual violence in Iraq that followed the account of atrocities committed by ISIS ( DAESH ) in northern Iraq in 2014, I bemoaned the various ways that violence has been instrumentalised historically and in the current context: Sexual and gendered violence is not merely employed as a racist and othering discourse by imperialist powers, and right-wing constituencies in the west, but discourses about sexual violence have emerged at every single moment of political and sectarian tension in modern Iraq as a central polarizing and political device amongst politicians and activists. (Al-Ali, 2018, pp. 22–23)…”

Section: Thinking About Iraqmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sexual and gendered violence is not merely employed as a racist and othering discourse by imperialist powers, and right-wing constituencies in the west, but discourses about sexual violence have emerged at every single moment of political and sectarian tension in modern Iraq as a central polarizing and political device amongst politicians and activists. (Al-Ali, 2018, pp. 22–23)…”

Section: Thinking About Iraqmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feminist Dilemmas: How to Talk About Gender-Based Violence in Relation to the Middle East?

Al-Ali¹

2019

Feminist Review

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The article charts my trajectories as a feminist activist/academic seeking to research, write and talk about gender-based violence in relation to the Middle East. More specifically, I am drawing on research and activism in relation to Iraq, Turkey and Lebanon to map the discursive, political and empirical challenges and complexities linked to scholarship and activism that is grounded in both feminist and anti-racist/anti-Islamophobic politics. While reflecting on my positionality, the article aims to challenge the binary of activism and academia as well as Western and Middle Eastern contexts in terms of knowledge production.

show abstract

Sexual violence in Iraq: Challenges for transnational feminist politics

Abstract: The article discusses sexual violence by ISIS against women in Iraq, particularly

Cited by 33 publications

References 12 publications

Theorising women and war in Kurdistan: A feminist and critical perspective

Theorising women and war in Kurdistan: A feminist and critical perspective

Cologne and the (un)making of transnational approaches to sexual violence

Feminist Dilemmas: How to Talk About Gender-Based Violence in Relation to the Middle East?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About