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WHRnet: What was the situation for women's rights in Iraq before the USA invasion and now?

YM: Before the USA invasion, Iraq was ruled by a dictator under whom political freedoms were banned and heavily punished. There is no question that Saddam committed terrible atrocities against his own people in particular the Kurdish populations as well people suffered enormously as a result of the continuous regional wars and the US backed embargo.

However, we also have to recognize that during his rule the society did enjoy the benefits of secularism and some economic prosperity. Women had access to education and work. 40% of the public work force was female. We were granted jobs after finishing our education which was free and nationalized. Economic independence and high levels of education placed Iraqi women in the most privileged status when compared to all countries of the Middle-East.

Progressive movements which were present in Iraq (since before Sadam's regime) had influenced the social scene and women's status was respected and social freedoms were enjoyed. These movements organized more than 40,000 women around the country and had forced amendments towards reforming the family law. Women in cities were professionals, judges, ministers and wore modern, stylish dresses as an expression of social status, education or aspiration. Professions like acting, art teaching and banking were crowded with women.

The change happened overnight after the sudden invasion of Iraq. The US occupation authorities ousted the regime and dismantled all former security and defense institutions. Consequently, the system fell apart with no substitution, which gave rise to looting and women being the abducted and trafficked to surrounding countries, where the borders were open for travelers with no serious inspection.

OWFI held a demonstration on August 24, 2003 – a few months after the war, where I wrote an open letter to Bremer demanding security for women on the streets. I held the US occupation responsible of the lives of almost 400 Iraqi women who were kidnapped to be raped, trafficked or killed.

Until this very day, the streets are insecure, although some new elements have been added. Militias of religious fundamentalist parties roam around the city streets harassing women who do not wear the veil and Islamic dress. There were many killings of women professors and officials by these mobs, part of whom are in the government now. In the southern cities, pro-Iran Islamist groups (Badr Brigades) have full control on the political scene. This had changed the streets into no-women zones where even the Christians do not dare to walk unveiled. Because of the failure of the public sector, most women lost their jobs and stayed without income for two years which made them revert to a tribal scene where they were economically protected. Unemployment among women is still at a high rate of 90% and no social insurance programs have been put in place.

WHRnet: Can you explain the process of women´s exclusion and discrimination in the Law. What has changed de facto and legally and what are the consequences for women in the new Constitution?

YM: In the first constitution written for Iraq in 1925, there was no mention of a formal religion. In the following constitution written during the first republic in 1958, it was decided that Islam was to be the religion of the republic. The constitution was changed in 1963, 1968 and 1970. The family law was partly based on Islam and had undergone reform under the pressure placed by the progressive women's movement. After the invasion, the US occupation divided the government and parliament seats according to strongly armed and funded political groups in Iraq. The US occupation preferred to assign to the strong political groups (mainly Shiite Islamists and Nationalist Kurds) most of the seats which left women's rights and activists defenseless, marginalized and unheard. The first result of this configuration of power was clear in the new constitution. Islamic Sharia was considered the base source of legislation. This result automatically aborted decades of feminist struggles in Iraq. It was an enormous set back in women's status and made Iraq into a country ruled mostly by religion. With the current government, the resulting family law will be one that legalizes polygamy, disciplining of women, stoning of adulteresses, and sexual apartheid. The first results were clear in the recent days, when the current Al Jaafari's government passed a resolution of segregating sexes in the universities and colleges.

Since the beginning of the war, the US administration meets individuals and groups who identify themselves according to their religion and ethnicity. Those who refused to be labeled as such were not offered seats in any councils. The best example of clarifying this point was the choice of the secretary of the biggest secular party in Iraq (Iraqi Communist Party) who has a Shiite seat in the governing council. Iraqis were denied political representation as the US plan was to divide Iraqis upon line of ethnicity, religion and sectarianism. It took two years of diligent divisions to turn this plan into a civil war where people are being killed based on their sectarian identification.

WHRnet: Can you explain more the impact of the military attack on women's lives?

YM: The atrocities that come along with the military attack and the lack of security became a reality in the first months after the war and it still persists. It has forced women to quit work and keep their daughters home, away from school. This concern also includes the misogynist attacks on women by the new Islamist fundamentalist resistance which has brought Taliban- like methods in dealing with women. Many fatwas of marrying young girls to Mujahideen in Falluja and Ramadi, thus saving them from "so called American rape" had caused actual legalized rape for female children as young as 12 years.

The occupation has also turned Iraq into another Islamic republic of Iran, where women are second rate citizens by law. The US watched the Shiite Islamist political groups become a majority in the government and apply their backwardness on Iraqi people without the smallest gesture of dismay. They are trying to force all measures that lead towards this direction, but are unable to force it on a society which had enjoyed more than half a century of modern civilized life. The notorious US ambassador Khalil Zadeh dares to describe the new constitution as the most democratic one in the "Islamic" world. He does not even embark on the issue that 60% of the people (the women) are second class citizens in social, economical and political rights. He is joyful that ethno-religious divisions have drawn a line deeper than ever before in the Iraqi society. He might as well have celebrated the outbreak of the civil war, or the Balkanization of Iraq.

WHRnet: How are women's organizations dealing with this situation? Please also mention the support you need from the international women´s rights movement.

YM: Unfortunately, when we refer to women's organization in Iraq, we need to be aware that the misogynist groups have recruited females to represent their misogynist agenda and were successful in giving them the entire female quota in the parliament. Therefore, the women's organization scene shows all the colors of the spectrum; from the most reactionary who do not want to hear about equality (e.g. Al Mihrab Martyr organization) to the most progressive who have established a free voice of demanding women's rights according to universal standards with no compromise to local religions (OWFI plays a leadership role in this end).

The US occupation authorities have made sure to exclude OWFI from their conferences and their highly publicized manipulation called women's events. They have favorite women figures who agree to compromise on most issues of women's rights. They high-light Islamist veiled women as representing Iraqi women and finally, they have managed to divide the masses of libertarian women again, based on ethnic, religious and sectarian lines.

Secular women find themselves in different groups if they are "Arabs", Kurds, Turkmen, Shiite, Sunni… etc. The plan of demoralizing women and their struggles has been studied very well. After two years of NGO meetings in the green zone, the liberal women's groups found out they are not getting much support and most of those groups have fallen apart.

OWFI has decided not to connect with perpetrators of backwardness and misogyny, but rather to look for support in the broad base of feminist network around the world. So far, OWFI managed to open two shelters for women, publish nine issues of Al Mousawat Newspaper, and train tens of women activists within its ranks.

Our projects for women's freedoms needs financial support to continue and establish in the most difficult circumstances created by the US war on Iraq. OWFI's most ambitious project at this moment is to start a satellite TV for Women's Freedoms in Middle-Eastern Countries. It will be an initiator of modern libertarian and secular tendency which wins over the societies and pulls them away from the Islamist religious tendencies transmitted by other TV channels which have destroyed the consciousness of Middle- Eastern youth. Amwaj (waves) TV will start new waves of Iraqi and Arab feminism and will work effectively against patriarchal misogyny supported by religion.

The Women's Alternative should be the answer to all evil, misogyny and bigotry. When we chose the name of our organization to be about Women's Freedom, the idea to continue to pioneer and transmit waves of militant feminism from Iraq, to cover all the Middle East and to reach the entire world. We hope it echoes back support and empowerment.