On May 22, 2021, Dr. Choman Hardi, Director of the Center for Gender and Development Studies at the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani had an interview with Kurdsat TV on the program “Kurdsat and Roshngary.” It focused on the definition of gender and sex, the way society has a role in gender inequalities, and how parents instill gender differences among their children. She also described the ways in which we have been labeled as women and men and restricted by these labels, for example in the gendered tasks we are assigned. She then addressed the importance of education in the roles and the skills of women as decision makers and leaders in society, and in being independent.
Dr. Choman emphasized the importance of reading and critical thinking in making the right and responsible decisions in life and the failure of the education system to hone these skills. The role of political culture is "muddying the pond" by creating and repeating lies about its opponents and feeding these lies to a public who has not learned to question and ask for evidence. Hopelessness results from this, when the public thinks that everyone is corrupt, everyone is the same, and everyone is looking after their own interests, and therefore it is not worth trying to change anything because nothing will change.
She also discussed the role of women in politics, and the right way of using the quota system that could help in having women’s voices and positions in politics. She also said that women should have the intention to make changes in society whenever they are in political positions, and that political parties should allow such women to speak for change, and not restrict them.
She has been asked about the differences between the new generation and the previous generation regarding gender-related topics, and to point out the improvements, if any, she mentioned that some inequalities have faded away compared to previous ages of our society and those steps which have made their mark in society for the better; improving it further.
Image description: In the right half of the photo, a woman with dark curly hair, wearing glasses, is smiling and speaking, and looking to the right of the camera. We see her from the elbows up. She is wearing a light blue dress with a square neck over which is a royal blue jacket with lapels. She stands against an abstract painting in blues and browns. The left half of the photo consists of a sage green wall. On the bottom right of the photo is a logo of a brown circle with white font spelling kurdsat.