On February 6, 2025, Iraq's Ministry of Higher Education issued a directive banning mixed-gender events in universities across the country, including student marathons and sports activities. The decision came in response to political pressure from parliament members and was justified on the grounds of preserving "moral and cultural values." Without citing any specific law to support this restriction, the move institutionalizes gender-based limitations on student freedoms within academic spaces and reflects a broader pattern of escalating conservative control over public life in Iraq.
The Pattern of Restrictions
This ban did not emerge in isolation. It follows a precedent established exactly one year earlier when Basra Governor Mohammed Taher Al-Tamimi banned women from participating in the city's public marathon in February 2024. At that time, religious figures including Saleh Al-Jizani issued public statements claiming the event would "lure Basra's women away from their chastity and honor into temptation" and threatened unspecified consequences if the ban was not implemented. The governor capitulated immediately, citing the need to "ensure the safety of everyone" and invoking "tribal customs" as justification.
The 2025 directive escalates this suppression by elevating the restriction from provincial to national policy. Parliamentary involvement distinguishes the university ban from the localized Basra case, suggesting coordinated action by conservative political forces across multiple domains of governance.
Weaponizing Morality
The justifications cited by the Ministry, such as "protection of values" and "preserving tradition," function as what analysts describe as smokescreens masking mechanisms of social control and gender segregation. Terms like "public decency" and "moral values" are deliberately undefined in Iraqi law, enabling authorities to prohibit virtually any behavior deemed threatening to the political or religious establishment.
This pattern coincides with other restrictive measures. In February 2024, Iraq's Federal Supreme Court banned the use of the word "gender" in all official discourse, effectively halting academic gender studies programs and women's rights advocacy initiatives. Days before the university marathon ban, amendments to Iraq's Personal Status Law entered into force, fundamentally restricting women's rights in marriage, divorce, and custody matters.
Impact on Student Expression
Following the Ministry directive, universities moved swiftly to cancel planned mixed-gender events. Student organizers were warned, interrogated, or threatened with disciplinary action for attempting to organize such activities. Security forces reportedly prevented some gatherings from taking place.
The enforcement created a chilling effect on future initiatives, as institutions adopted the narrative that mixed-gender activities violate "social traditions". For students, particularly women, this normalized gender segregation as official policy rather than an externally imposed restriction.
Broader Implications
While a marathon may not appear explicitly artistic, it represents participatory culture and public expression. Mixed-gender athletics challenge spatial politics that confine women to private, indoor spaces and assert rights to public presence as equals. By suppressing these events, authorities signal that even non-political, health-focused activities are subject to moral regulation.
The ban exemplifies how vague appeals to "values" and "tradition" enable informal censorship without constitutional scrutiny. As universities become increasingly controlled by militia-linked administrators and conservative appointees, they transform from spaces of intellectual freedom into sites of moral policing, fundamentally undermining academic autonomy and student agency.
This trajectory reflects a troubling trend where loosely defined "values" become tools for enforcing censorship and limiting public space for youth expression and inclusion, particularly affecting women and those challenging conservative gender norms.
