Iraqi Women
Must Have A Voice In New Iraqi Government
By Pamela Bone
If the new
Iraq is to become the hoped-for example of democracy and freedom
to other Arab states, one of the most effective measures those
charged with its rebuilding can take, is to encourage the
participation of women at every level of society.
This isn’t
only for the benefit of women, though as half the population, they
are as entitled to liberation as are the men of Iraq. It is also
because throughout the world, a very good indication of the
quality of life in a country is the status of women in that
country.
Under
Saddam’s rule, Iraq wasn’t considered terribly oppressive towards
women, by the standards of the region. This is despite Saddam’s
son, Uday, having had 100s of women killed for prostitution, their
heads were nailed to the doors of their houses as a lesson to
other women not to dishonor their country (the real crime of many
was to speak out about corruption in government), this was despite
Saddam’s vie to win the approval of his fundamentalist neighbors
and issuing a decree allowing men to kill their female relatives
to preserve family honor.
In Jordan,
honor killings are often either not prosecuted or receive lenient
penalties. Female circumcision is still common in the rural areas
of Egypt, Oman, and Yemen. The Arab states have the lowest female
participation in the paid work-force in the world and the lowest
representation of women in parliaments. One in two Arab women
cannot read or write.
According to
last year’s Arab Human Development Report - written for the United
Nations by Arab academics - the region is crippled by a lack of
political freedom, isolation from ideas, and the repression of
women.
Oil alone
will not be enough to make Iraq a prosperous, liberal democracy.
Saudi Arabia, despite its vast oil riches, has a labor force that
is growing twice as fast as employment. Across the Arab world
there is falling economic growth, high unemployment and very high
population growth. With 40% of the population under 15, the main
growth in the region is in angry young men without jobs and
without hope.
If Arab
countries are to be able to provide for their growing populations
- especially after the oil runs out or the world finds alternate
sources of energy - not only economic reforms but also changes of
culture will be needed. Not least needed is a change in attitudes
towards women. Right now the Arab world is handicapping itself by
its failure to use the intelligence, energy and the productivity
of half the population.
No, the
whole world does not have to become just like us. Indeed, I hope
the rest of the world never does take on the self-absorption and
over-consumption so prevalent in Western society. The poorest
people in the world often have a dignity and a generosity that we
have largely lost. But those who think all must be excused because
“it is their culture” seem not to take into account that there are
movements within even the most repressive countries striving to
change aspects of their cultures - in the same way that we have
seen things wrong in our culture and tried to change them.
In all Islamic states there are strong movements of women who see
no necessary contradictions between Islam and women’s rights. Yet,
the women in Afghanistan who were fighting against the Taliban
rule have said the hardest thing was their feeling that they were
alone in their struggle.
