Women at the wheels of Iraqi Kurdistan's first all-female carwash

Challenging prejudice, a woman opened an all-female carwash in Iraq's Kurdistan to boost her income and empower female drivers who may have felt uncomfortable taking their cars to male-dominated garages.

A civil servant by day, Siva Abdul Karim opened her carwash two months ago with the help of four of her female friends and financing from her husband.

"I brought my car here to demonstrate my moral and material support," said customer Shokhan Jama, while waiting for her Ford SUV to get its final polish. "I am proud of these women.

Karim said the carwash provides a much needed income to her employees, who earn between 350,000 and 600,000 Iraqi dinars ($300-500) a month, depending on their hours.

Kurdistan's decade-long economic boom came to an abrupt halt in 2014 when Baghdad slashed funding to the autonomous region after the Kurds built their own oil pipeline to Turkey and began exporting oil independently. (Writing By Marine Hass)

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)