Pandemic restrictions a business boon for some Iraqi women

Fatima Ali shows her takeaway cheese-plate that she sells making a small but steady income, in Baghdad, Iraq (Khalid Mohammed/AP)

A growing number of Iraqi women are using pandemic restrictions to establish home-based businesses.

It is a way to bypass discrimination and harassment that often come with working in Iraq’s male-dominated, conservative society – and bring in extra income as the economy worsens.