Young women defy gender stereotype to become chefs

(25 Jun 2019) LEADIN:

Five women are defying gender stereotypes and working as kebab chefs in the northern Kurdish region of Iraq.

The roles normally go to men, but a job shortage means the women were willing to enter the restaurant industry.

STORYLINE:

Soma Khalil knows how to make a good kebab.

Alongside five other women, she works at the Tony Baba kebab restaurant in the northern Kurdish region of Iraq.

In this restaurant on a road that links Sulaymaniyah and Kalar, Khalil serves customers their lunch.

"We as women were able to count on ourselves and work outside, and it is not a shame ever for a woman to work outside," she explains.

"I work here as a kebab chef and we are able to work here for 12 hours non-stop," she adds.

A job as a kebab chef - normally considered a man's job - is not what is traditionally demanded of women by this conservative society.

But the women all recently graduated from Sulaymaniyah and Halabja universities and needed jobs.

Skala Khalil Mohammed graduated from the food industry department at the university of Halabja.

"We needed to find a job opportunity to make a living and to help out our families," she explains.

"But because of the economic crises that overwhelmed the region's government, there are very few job opportunities in our country," she says.

She says she accepted a position here "with pleasure".

And the customers appreciate the great service.

"I hope that every place can provide job opportunities for women, so that young people can be independent," says Salar Salih.

This generation are proving that women are just as capable as men in restaurant kitchens.



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