To see the future of Iraq, look in the faces of its women. How are they faring? The devastating attacks on the Shi’a religious community illustrate that the CPA in Iraq has been unable to ensure a safe and secure environment. This affects women in distinctive ways. Eleven months after the old regime fell, life has not returned to “normal” in Iraq. In places where kidnappings occur frequently, children must be accompanied to schools and women are escorted to the market and...
more »To see the future of Iraq, look in the faces of its women. How are they faring? The devastating attacks on the Shi’a religious community illustrate that the CPA in Iraq has been unable to ensure a safe and secure environment. This affects women in distinctive ways. Eleven months after the old regime fell, life has not returned to “normal” in Iraq. In places where kidnappings occur frequently, children must be accompanied to schools and women are escorted to the market and have taken to donning abaya (body-covering black garments) to ensure greater self-protection. From the new authorities, there has been much rhetorical and some practical commitment to addressing the problems faced by women in Iraq. The United States has allocated $27 million for women’s programmes which, alongside funds from other sources, is being used to support local women’s groups in establishing educational programmes, job skills training, and seminars promoting understanding of women’s rights. The new Iraqi interim constitution suggested that a minimum of 25% of seats in the legislature go to women, rather than the mandated 40% quota that many had sought. The draft also includes an explicit provision that Iraqis are equal in their rights regardless of gender. It is still unclear how the 25% will be distributed and whether the provision will remain after power is transferred to an undetermined entity. Iraq’s women have other campaigns to fight. Some politicians openly advocate legislative controls over women’s behaviour. This legal struggle, important as it is, is only the visible dimension of a deeper question: No liberation without women’s liberation. It would be tragic if the country of Iraq were liberated only for its women to be imprisoned.
« less
