Kaziwa Anamaghi

I’m 90% foreign. You lose your identity because of the language. In Iraq I was a bright student, one who the Kurdish community could be proud of, but here I am regarded a stupid immigrant woman because I don’t master the language perfectly.

I am a member of the Kurdish feminist party where we try to raise the awareness of the women in my community. We represent postmodern feminism. We are not just fighting as socialists against capitalism or as nationalists against the government for an independent Kurdistan. We try to cover all aspects, because Kurdish women succumb to different forms of oppression, all of which are interlinked in complex ways. There are certain sectors and subjects where we are prohibited to work or study, we don’t have a country, and we are subject to an oppressive religion. When I divorced my husband 15 years ago, I lost my daughters due to the Islamic rules in Iran. That is when I started to examine my community. What happens to women who divorce? I researched female genital mutilation. I started to fight.

Feminists in the Middle East are regarded as witches, but I didn’t care. I wanted to be different, to develop myself and to become someone who my daughters could be proud of. Even though they have grown up with their father’s values, they know that if they ever become victims of oppression, they have someone who will support them, and that is me.

40 years / couple / children in Iran / psychology and pedagogy student / Roskilde / from Iran / Kurdish background / came to Denmark in 2010 / residence permit in 2011