Introduction:
The Ministerial Cabinet has recently approved the draft law of the Anti-Domestic Violence, referring it to the House of Representatives, after more than ten years of dialogues and discussions in which local, international organizations, institutions, and official bodies participated.
The draft law included paragraphs that sparked many discussions and dialogues, especially by the various political forces. Some of them saw that some articles contradict Islamic law or customs and traditions. Simultaneously, others argued for the need to update Iraqi laws and uncover the Iraqi family’s hidden problems, especially women and children, when traditional social institutions such as the tribes cannot play a useful role in such issues.
In order to get acquainted with the orientations of the Iraqis and their positions regarding the approval of this law, Al-Bayan Center for Planning and Studies took the initiative to get the views of the Iraqi public on the Anti-Domestic Violence draft law and several other issues that concern the family and Iraqi women in particular.
Through this survey, Al-Bayan Center aims to help decision-makers in the legislative and executive authorities feel the street’s pulse in the crucial issues that require public interaction and acceptance of state decisions.
An electronic form was designed and published on social media, in which 13,684 people participated. It is the largest survey conducted by the Center over the past years. This active and unexpected participation reflected citizens’ desire to shed light on a chronic problem covered in good faith or lousy intentions, or compelling circumstances, politically, security, and economically for decades.
The current survey shows the active participation of women. Their participation rate is 60%. This active presence exceeded the standard rate of female participation in the questionnaires previously conducted by Al-Bayan Center, or the reliable questionnaires of other institutions and think tanks, which did not exceed 27% -35% at best.
Although the questionnaire targeted all Iraqis everywhere in the country, the data obtained show less interaction by the western governorates and the Kurdistan region. In contrast, the governorates that witnessed protests from October 2019 show great interaction.
The survey also shows the active participation of young people between the ages of 18-29 and educated people with a bachelor’s degree. It is an indication of these groups’ interest in these urgent aissues.
Al-Bayan Center for Planning and Studies hopes this survey results will be useful in the ongoing discussions about the Anti-Domestic Violence Law draft and other women’s issues. The Center hopes that this poll will be an important indicator for academic research and studies and beneficial to those interested. It will be useful for the dialogues and discussions conducted by civil society organizations and the media in this regard.
