Legal Protection of Foreign Women Workers in the Kurdistan Region’s Cafeterias: Soran City as an Example

The Iraqi Labor Law No. (71) of 1987, which is in force in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, gives great importance to the worker in terms of rights and duties. There is no doubt that foreign women workers who work in the Kurdistan Region’s cafeterias need to be protected by law and their rights guaranteed. However, the legal protections for foreign women workers in cafeterias are unclear, and their rights are not adequately addressed. Therefore, the objectives of this study are to present the legal rights and protections provided for women workers in the applicable treaties and domestic laws, as well as to determine the extent of providing these rights and protections for foreign women working in the region’s cafeterias. This research relied on comparative and analytical methods to achieve its objectives and also adopted the empirical research method by conducting interviews with foreign women workers in Soran’s cafeterias. The study revealed that these women workers are deprived of most of their rights. They are often employed during nighttime hours and do not have the daily or annual leave provided for by the labor law with full wage and there is also a difference in the daily wage between women workers in cafeterias, which is contrary to the labor law. Finally, it is proposed that the labor law should not only be a written law but rather an effective and practical law in the private sector in the Kurdistan Region.