Although the size of the female population outnumbers that of men in the Kurdish Region, political entities campaigning for the forthcoming Kurdistan parliamentary and presidential elections barely mention women issues.

Since the beginning of the election campaign slogans used by the political entities have typically focused on issues such as eliminating corruption, introducing greater transparency, reform and youth problems. (However when talking about youth problems, this refers to boys, not girls).

Meanwhile, issues such as eradicating violence against women, female unemployment and assistance for women over the age of 30 who have yet to marry - a big issue in the region – lie dormant.

According to Prshang Pirod, a female journalist who works for the daily Kurdish newspaper, Hawler, women in Kurdistan do not vote on the basis of party manifestos but on the basis of fear. Pirod told Niqash that men - fathers, brothers and husbands – dictate to women who they should vote for.

"I have seen myself that a woman has liked a political party but her husband has told her not to vote for the party which she likes, and to vote for the one that her husband supports," said Pirod.

Niqash asked a number of women at a gym in Erbil who they would vote for. The underlining message was that they would "vote for the political entity which their husband or parents vote for." Most of the women expressed little personal interest in the election or the political manifestos of the various parties, saying they would only vote because they were under family pressure to do so.

Resignation, rather than a desire to implement change, seemed to pervade their thoughts on issues that might concern them.

Regarding violence against women, one lady, a primary school teacher, declared that "any party that wins the elections cannot stop violence [against women], because it is something that is embedded within society."

This, despite the fact, that violence against women continues to looms large in Kurdistan. Honour killings, for instance, committed mainly because a woman is judged to have tarnished the family's honour by engaging in a purported emotional or sexual relationship outside the boundaries of marriage, still occur. Often reports that a woman has committed suicide by burning herself covers up an honour killing.

According to the Ministry of Interior 10 women were victims of honour killings, 55 women burnt themselves to death and 349 women filed law suits against their husbands or brothers for beating them during the first four months of 2009.

However, during the election campaign, political parties have drawn little attention to eradicating this practice.

Further key issue for women that continues to lie untouched are employment and marriage. An increasing number of Kurdish women graduating from university say they are unable to find work. At the same time, the increased cost of housing is delaying marriage for many.

Nonetheless, Kurdish law states that female representation in parliament must be at least 30 percent and there are hopes that female deputies may push forward a female-based agenda. Of the 507 candidates that have registered to compete in the elections, 150 are women.

Tara Muhammad, a 24 year old unemployed graduate, expressed hope that the woman MPs will work to solve women’s issues but says she fears their priority will be their political parties.

This view is supported by Suzanne Khala Shahab, an MP and long-time women’s rights activist, who said that female MPs generally serve their parties rather than other women. As an example Shahab pointed to the failure of women MPs to support and push through a law banning violence against women.

As a new parliament prepares to be voted in, the likes of Shahab are not optimistic. With so little attention being given to women’s issues during the election campaign, what chance is there that these issues will rise to prominence once the new parliament is seated they ask.