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Iraq`s women have their own battles for change
Baghdad, July 10: Women in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq took their first stab at the traditional boundaries on their social and political roles, announcing a list of ambitious demands to the country`s US-led occupation government.
Baghdad, July 10: Women in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq took their first stab at the traditional boundaries on their social and political roles, announcing a list of ambitious
demands to the country's US-led occupation government.
But their resolve to seek equality in a relatively
liberal but largely male-dominated Iraqi society was
immediately put to the test in a news conference yesterday
that followed a meeting of some 80 women academics, political
and human rights activists from across Iraq.
The group, voice of the women of Iraq demanded an end to the ban on women traveling abroad without male chaperones and demanded a minimum of 30 per cent representation in future governments and local city councils, said participant Maysoun Adamalougi. To the agreeing nods of men present, a male Iraqi reporter told Adamalougi that Islam prohibits women from going abroad alone.
Fawzia al-Atia, another woman participant, adjusted her glasses, stared down at the reporter from the podium and lectured him just as she would any of her sociology students at Baghdad University.
"We know that Islam is one of the most accommodating religions in the world that defends the rights of women, and we know historically that women have fought alongside men, they traveled, they traded, but now we see that certain segments of society are using the name of Islam as a screen to create discrimination," she said sternly. Voice of the women of Iraq includes women who have been at the forefront of the battle for changing women's status in Iraq since the ouster of Saddam Hussein's regime in April.
Bureau Report
The group, voice of the women of Iraq demanded an end to the ban on women traveling abroad without male chaperones and demanded a minimum of 30 per cent representation in future governments and local city councils, said participant Maysoun Adamalougi. To the agreeing nods of men present, a male Iraqi reporter told Adamalougi that Islam prohibits women from going abroad alone.
Fawzia al-Atia, another woman participant, adjusted her glasses, stared down at the reporter from the podium and lectured him just as she would any of her sociology students at Baghdad University.
"We know that Islam is one of the most accommodating religions in the world that defends the rights of women, and we know historically that women have fought alongside men, they traveled, they traded, but now we see that certain segments of society are using the name of Islam as a screen to create discrimination," she said sternly. Voice of the women of Iraq includes women who have been at the forefront of the battle for changing women's status in Iraq since the ouster of Saddam Hussein's regime in April.
Bureau Report