Iraq’s Kurdish female entrepreneurs overcome barriers to succeed

Taffan Hamakhan's cosmetics business 'ByTaff' employs women in an effort to reduce female unemployment [Courtesy of Taffan Hamakhan]

Nearly five years ago, Huda Sarhang, 27, was sitting at one of the most iconic tea shops in Erbil, the Macho tea shop, sipping the store’s famous cardamom-infused tea.

Staring at the classic istikaan glass which held her tea, she wondered whether it could withstand the heat of something else: melted wax.