Left on the Shelf

In a report by Zahra al-Asady, civil servant Nahrain Ishmail said female education contributed to the trend. She believes that when a woman dedicates a significant part of her life to higher education she can miss out on the chance to get married. However, Hikmat Hamid, a sociologist, puts the decrease in marriage down to youth emigration, while Furat Ibrahim, head of the Iraqi Media Network, claims that the numerous wars launched by the former Iraqi regime has caused a shortage of available men.



Dr Suha Mahmood, a teacher at Mosul University, told the programme how she became an old maid. During the Iran-Iraq war, she fell in love with her colleague at university. They could not get married because of the war: he emigrated to Europe and she entered postgraduate study. He got married abroad while she continued to wait for him to return. Now she has gained university qualifications, she does not think she could marry someone less educated than her.



The show interviewed Dr Nada Fatah al-Abaichy, professor of educational psychology at Mosul University. She said that 60 per cent of Iraqi women now fall into the category of old maids. She also pointed out the psychological effects of the phenomenon on women and suggested polygamy was a realistic solution for “old-maidenness”.



Rasha Faruq reported from Baghdad on how a lack of financial resources was the main factor that prevented young men from getting married. Hasan Abdulla complained about the economic burden of married life, but Nerjis Mohammed claimed all that girls needed from a man before marriage was a guarantee that he would fulfil the basic needs of family life.