In December, the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) passed resolution 137, which, if it had been approved by the Paul Bremer, head of the US-dominated Coalition Provisional Authority, would have overturned Iraq's pre-war secular Personal Status Law and replaced it with Islamic sharia law.
The IGC ruling would eliminated the idea of civil marriage and placed several aspects of family law, including marriage, divorce, child custody and inheritance, directly under the control of the country's religious authorities.
On February 27, after much pressure from inside and outside Iraq, the IGC was forced to rescind the resolution.
According to Yanar Mohammed, chairperson of the Organisation of Women's Freedom in Iraq (OWFI), the marches, demonstrations and protest meetings held by Iraqi women to demand the repeal of the resolution spurred the "beginning of a women's movement in Baghdad".
In her Stories from Baghdad, Mohammad wrote that "this was one of the first pulses to a women's opposition that could not be scared off or oppressed..."
The Dow Jones Newswires web site reported on March 8 that hundreds of women protested in Baghdad against the adoption by the IGC of a new interim Iraqi constitution, demanding a more secular constitution that separates religion from the state and education, and that better protects women's rights.
The interim constitution establishes Islam as the official religion of Iraq and sharia law as one the "sources" of future legislation.
Women, who make up 60% of the Iraqi population, have much to struggle for in Iraq. OWFI's Houzan Mahmoud wrote in the London Guardian on March 8: "It is now almost a year after the war, which was supposed to bring 'liberation' to Iraqis. Rather than an improvement in the quality of women's lives, what we have seen is widespread violence, and an escalation of violence against women."
According to Mahmoud, "rape, abduction, 'honour' killings and domestic violence have become daily occurrences". While there has been no systematic gathering of statistics on violence against women since the US-led invasion, through independent surveys the OWFI has discovered 400 women who were raped in Baghdad between April and August.
Other problems cited by Mahmoud include the sale of girls and women to brothel owners in neighbouring countries, the imposition of veiling by Islamic groups and the confinement of women to their homes. "Women can no longer go out alone to work, or attend schools or universities. An armed male relative has to guard a woman if she wants to leave the house."
The devastated health system is also increasing pressure on women, who are forced to care for those who miss out on hospital treatment. Despite hundreds of billions of dollars spent to date on the invasion and occupation of Iraq, hospitals are without basic medication and equipment, babies die of infection due to a shortage of antibiotics, sewage leaks onto hospital floors and cancer patients receive only part of their medication as there are insufficient supplies for all to receive full doses.
According to the March 5 Washington Post, Bahaa Abdul Munem, until recently the chief resident at Iraq's premier children's hospital, said: "The most important thing for Americans is their interest: the Ministry of Oil. That is where all the money is going. They don't give medical supplies or oxygen any thought."
Increasingly, women in Iraq are taking action to ensure their place in the country's future. Manal Omar, Iraq country director for the US-based Women for Women International, told the New York Times on February 26 that Iraqi "women are waking up". She said: "They realise that if they don't move now, they will pay the price for years and years to come."
Women have been campaigning for a proportion of seats to be guaranteed for women in a new national assembly. According to the February 26 NYT, Raghad Ali, who has been collecting signatures on a petition as part of this campaign, tried to run for local office but was turned away by men at the candidate registration office. They told her women can't be candidates.
The successful campaign by Iraqi women and their supporters around the world to overturn resolution 137 shows that not only are Iraqi women capable of playing leading roles in Iraqi society and politics, but their continued struggle will be essential to ending the brutal occupation of Iraq and building a new democratic society.
According to Mahmoud, "the only way out of this chaos is through the direct power of the real people of Iraq". Iraqi women have shown the way, and deserve our continued solidarity.
Kerryn Williams
From Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly, March 17, 2004.
Visit the