Overall, the report demonstrates that, in Iraq, digital spaces function as active political arenas where
legitimacy, power, and participation are negotiated. For women candidates, these spaces remain
deeply unequal, shaped by gendered hostility that intersects with structural political constraints.
Addressing TFGBV is therefore not only a matter of digital and women’s rights, but about protecting
democratic participation and advancing political equality in Iraq.
INSM and DRI strongly recommend the following suggestions to create safer online spaces to enable
the equitable participation of women in political processes:
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The Iraqi government and electoral bodies should adopt and enforce clear guidelines and a
rapid response mechanism to deter and sanction TFGBV, AI-generated and manipulated
content, disinformation and hate speech campaigns against women candidates across Iraq
and the Kurdistan Region in Iraq (KRI).
Political parties and parliamentary bodies should treat the quota as a basic requirement for
women’s inclusion not a ceiling. Parties must go beyond minimal thresholds by actively
advancing women into attainable positions on candidate lists, meaningful roles on key
committees, and genuine pathways to party leadership, underpinned by transparent regularly
published data on women’s representation.
Platforms and media should implement robust, context-aware moderation policies and
gender‑sensitive editorial standards in Arabic and Kurdish to enable the swift identification of
account impersonation, AI-generated and manipulated content, and honour‑based abuse or
sexualised attacks on women who participate in politics.
Civil society and candidates should provide specialized support, training, and coordinated
rapid-response mechanisms to help women candidates withstand and challenge online abuse,
fostering solidarity and reframing attacks not as personal but as deliberate assaults on
democratic participation itself.
Content Warning: This report contains examples of harmful, offensive, and discriminatory language
collected for research and documentation purposes. Such content is presented solely to illustrate
patterns of online abuse and should not be understood as an endorsement of the views expressed.
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