Iraq’s Women are in Trouble
by Prairie Weather
McClatchy has a grim report about the situation of women in Iraq.
Remember: during the Saddam regime, Iraq had the reputation of being one of the most progressive, egalitarian regimes in the region when it came to women’s rights. Today’s report suggests a sharp turn backwards,towards a burqa culture.
For decades, Iraq led the region in promoting women’s rights, beginning in 1959 with the passage of an extremely progressive civil liberties law and the appointment of the first female minister in the Arab world. Even Saddam was a friend to women in the 1970s and 1980s, passing strong legislation against sexual harassment and bringing huge numbers of women into the workforce as part of a drive to industrialize Iraq. Now, however, Iraqi women are finding their hard-won freedoms limited by a society increasingly governed by religious conservatives. Many Iraqis say that politicians at the local and provincial levels, whether they hail from Islamist parties or merely take cues from them, are putting pressure on women to circumscribe their public role. …
… The tension between the two sides bubbled over last month in Kadhmiyah, a section of northern Baghdad, where local Islamist leaders erected a provocative display outside a major Shiite shrine. It shows four mannequins wearing the hijab, the traditional Muslim head covering for women, while behind four mannequins with uncovered heads are laced with burns, shackled in chains and have red strands lapping at their feet to simulate a fiery afterlife.
The message to women is clear: Dress modestly, or burn in hell.
This is cross posted from the blog Prairie Weather.