On Wednesday, the 11th of August 2021, the Center for Gender and Development Studies team conducted a focus group discussion (FGD) in Sulaimani at AUIS. This FGD was part of our gender-based violence research project in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, funded by The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The FGD focused on the issue of violence against women from the points of view of a lawyer, a doctor, an NGO staff member, and a journalist.
The aim of this project is to improve the services provided to victimized women. It also aims to identify commonalities among the women who face violence in order to specify risk factors. The issues brought up in this discussion were the roots of violence, the causes, the solutions, and suggestions.
The participants engaged in a deep conversation and pointed out important issues related to their sectorsTogethe, they completed the connections and roles that each field has related to work on gender-based issues.
Image Description: There are two photos, both in a large conference room with brown paneled walls, light blue carpet, and beige chairs with metal frames. Both photos show people sitting in a circle. Two banners, showing orange script and colorful human figures, are on either side of a woman with dark curly hair, wearing glasses. In one photo, we see a wider angle, with six women and one man in the circle. In the other photo, the view is closer, and we see three women and the back of a man.