Kurdish Women Want Secular Laws

"IWPR - Women in Iraqi Kurdistan worry that the wording of the draft charter could open the way to Sharia law.

In the largely secular Kurdish-dominated north of Iraq, many women are concerned about references to Islam in the country’s new draft constitution.

The draft document which was approved by lawmakers on August 28 includes the provision that Islam, as the official state religion, is “a basic source of legislation”.

It also states that “no law can be passed that contradicts the undisputed rules of Islam.”

Such clauses, say many Kurdish women, who are used to living in the relatively liberal environment of the Kurdistan region, could open the door to Islamic governance."
The Kurdistani