Biography
After my BA, I spent a period of one year as a social researcher with Kurdish Life Aid (KLA) supported by the UK Department for International Development. This post gave me experience of health awareness programmes in hygiene and sanitation across 92 villages and Child to Child programmes. This was followed by experience of using Participatory Rural Appraisal techniques, spending three months in a juvenile centre funded by Save the Children Fund (SCF) UK where children were supported to express their concerns through story telling or drawing. I then took up a post as field operations officer with the Kurdish Organization for Mine Awareness (KOMA) where I was responsible for coordinating twelve teams concerned with mine awareness and community safety. Continuing to work part time I completed a Masters degree in the role of international NGOs and government institutions in supporting disabled children, especially those injured and disabled by mines. This included a period of three months at Canterbury Christchurch University in the UK where I completed modules on social work with disabled people and older people. Research for my dissertation: “The Role of Government Institutions and NGOs in Taking Care of Physically Disabled People” revealed common experiences of physical and emotional abuse of disabled children by their parents and caregivers. Following completion of my Masters degree in 2007 I became a lecturer in the sociology department at Salahaddin University with responsibility for teaching ‘social problems’, ‘industrial sociology’ and ‘rural society’. Two years later, with support from Ersta Sköndal University in Sweden, I was centrally involved in the establishment of the social work department at Salahaddin University, the first in Kurdistan. Being a university lecturer from 2007 to 2011, this paved the way of gaining more awareness about child punishment and maltreatment in Kurdistan through exposure to several children’s institutions, child care and juvenile centres. Working in these fields for several years provided me with sufficient experience and insights in collecting relevant and necessary information on the subject matter.I received my Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Sociology and Social Policy from the University of Durham-UK in 2020,Faculty of Social Sciences & Health -Sociology Department.Title of my thesis: Child Punishment and Maltreatment in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq: Causes and Consequences – A Field Study in Erbil City.