MenZone

In recent years the region has seen some development in various sectors, mostly in building new apartments. Building mosques and new facilities for governmental departments has never stopped, luckily we have sufficient mosques! we have an abundance of government buildings spreading here and there with big posters written in Kurdish, English and Arabic. when you take a tour around the city you will see some hotels occasionally, almost all of them are surrounded with concrete block fences. Streets are always filled with cars it is very difficult for some people to cross the street, to get to the other side you need to risk your life! Seriously even public parks are surrounded with concrete fences and you need to go through checkpoints to get in! It might be a beautiful scenery to take a look above, but the environment is not as friendly as it looks like!

When you ask women why do you spent most of your time at home? they give you all the above excuses, they say we can't take a trip because despite untidiness of streets and roads we will face other obstacles! It is not only about the streets and public places being unfriendly, the society also is very patriarchal! apart from the malls everywhere else in Arbil women face difficulty to spend some time, you will hear different stories about that. The streets are always overcrowded as if the people are all working in the delivery service! It is totally a Men Zone! a man can go anywhere at any time he would like, but women are vulnerable to the harsh and dusty environment!

Sexual harassment is one of the problems a woman will face, in the markets and other public places women walking alone are obliged to give their mobile numbers! women need to spend more time outside. Women must have the freedom to go out whenever they like, they must be treated equally and we have to create an environment that makes women to feel safe! most of our women need permission from their family to go out.In a city in which 90% of houses don't have a garden or a green area, a woman is expected to spend most of the day inside the house! this has a very negative impact on our women, it makes them feel shy most of the times, it limits their capacity in working and involving with new people in their life! this has to change, before building more hotels and mosques we need to build neighborhoods in which our women can enjoy their daily life normally, we should create an environment that stimulates our women and gives them the desire to come out from their houses and enjoy the open space!!!