Women's status and rights in Iraq from ancient Mesopotamia through Saddam Hussein

Women in Iraq

Brief History of Iraqi Women

The area known as Iraq is referred to as the "cradle of civilization" dating back 5,000 years to the civilization of Mesopotamia. It was Mesopotamia that left ancient artifacts and the first known written laws called the Code of Hammurabi (Iraq History). During this time period, women were considered "partners" in war and in peace (Iraq). They were needed for medical care during wars and one Iraqi female, Amina bin Qais, 17, was the youngest to lead a medical team (Iraq). It must be remembered that even then, girls were often taken as slaves (Iraq).

Eventually Islam became the accepted religion in the area which was strict and unbending toward women. With the invasion of the Mongols in 1258, Baghdad became the scene of massacre, devastation and plunder (Iraq). Women were taken as slaves, raped and killed all in an effort control and rampage the region (Iraq). The Mongols were defeated in 1553 by the Ottoman Empire, led by Sultan Suleiman who captured Baghdad (Iraq) Also known as "the Turks," they had very strict rules regarding women. The sexes were separated, girls received little education and if a woman was noticed for some achievement, it was attributed to her husband's status (Iraq).

Iraq continued to worship Islam throughout this time period and eventually after World War II, the Turkish Empire collapsed (Iraq). This resulted in the League of Nations giving Great Britain the mandate to administer Iraq (Iraq). In 1958, Iraq became a member of the League of Nations and the Ba'th Party took control of the presidency which resulted in more stability (Iraq). In July 1977, Saddam Hussein (Iraq).

Iraqi Women in post-Saddam Iraq

After the United States invaded Iraq, Saddam was toppled from power and eventually captured. The removal of Saddam and the Ba'th Party caused intellectuals to come out from hiding and girls being allowed to attend school (Post-Saddam Conference Series). However, there is still a belief by the Iraqi people that the new government and the United States coalition have failed to improve security (Culture).

The surprising part of the "new" Iraq includes those who continue to hold women to Islamic law (Culture). One writer, a woman named Fatima Rahin Nasir, recently wrote that "the veil protects chastity and honor and is not a punishment from God" (Post-Saddam) . She went on to say that those who do say such negative things have "sick minds" (Post-Saddam). Another article written by a Kufe University Law school scholar, Grufran Dikan Abbas, says women can avoid having deformed children by following the "culture of marriage" as set out by the Prophet and later imams (Post-Saddam). The culture of marriage relates to Islamic law which is quite clear on marriage (Islamic Marital Jurisprudence). The Islamic law specifically requires a contract for marriage and includes the requirement that both parties be able to provide informed legal consent (Islamic). Additional provisions include prohibiting marriage to very close blood relatives and also includes prohibition of marriage between individuals who were breastfed by the same woman, such as a wet nurse (Islamic). Divorce is described as a last resort and is the most disliked of permissible things in Islam but either party is supposed to have the right to seek a divorce (Islamic). There is no mention of the veil or deformed children in Islamic Jurisprudence (Islamic). Abbas also says that the groom should, before consummation of the marriage, ask God to bless the marriage and prevent the devil's intervention (Post-Saddam)..

Another truly horrifying cultural phenomenon is honor killings. Honor killings or customary killings are often utilized primarily against females around the world, but also targets homosexuals of either sex (Honor Killing). The majority of the killings are perpetrated in Muslim countries (Honor). Honor killings are defined by the Human Rights Watch as:

Honor killings are acts of violence, usually murder, committed by male family members against female family members, who are held to have brought dishonor upon the family. A woman can be targeted by (individuals within) her family for a variety of reasons, including refusing to enter into an arranged marriage, being the victim of sexual assault, seeking a divorce-even from an abusive husband- or (allegedly) committing adultery. The mere perception that a woman has behave in a way that "dishonors" her family is sufficient to trigger an attack on her life (Honor).

This continues to be practiced in Iraq even after the invasion. In 2006, approximately 133 women were killed in one city, just one, Basra, Iraq (Honor). Of these killings, 47 were alleged honor killings and 79 were for violations of "Islamic Teachings" (Honor). In Iraq, honor killings are conducted by armed groups, not the government, against women who are politically active and those who failed to follow a strict dress code in additional to traditional cultural killings (Honor). Honor killings are about dishonor to family or society, not domestic violence because an entire family can become involved in planning the murder (Chesler, Phyliss). The targeted woman is warned repeatedly, sometimes for years, that her behavior such as refusal to marry her chosen groom or becoming too westernized, will result in her killing (Chesler). She cannot hide easily since neighbors, imams and others will report her whereabouts to the family (Chesler). Great Britain has passed legislation and now has a program to hide these woman which is similar to the United States Federal Witness Protection Program (Chesler). The fact that such killings occur and are kept secret makes it even more difficult to obtain information from perpetrators because they will lie, claim it was suicide or that the person is missing in an effort to keep further dishonor from their family (Chesler). There have been some improvements in the status of women but the future is not necessarily favorable due to the endemic problems with individual interpretation of the Koran.

The Past and the Future of Iraqi Women

Iraqi women have survived more than one invasion of their region, from the Mongols to the Turks and even now the occupation by the United States. In ancient times they were most likely to be captured as slaves in war since they were most often considered partners to the men. Once the practice of Islamic worship the women of that region began to be subjected to stricter codes, from marriage to dress and the risk of honor becoming an even greater issue grew. The terrorization by the Mongols and Turks was quite different from the terror under Saddam. The Mongols and Turks utilized slavery, rape, beatings and murder. Saddam instead took on an entirely different approach. His first goal was fear coupled with violence to maintain the plans he made for the society and culture. He was less about Islam and more about self-promotion and the glorification of Iraq. This type of leader is most like Josef Stalin of the Soviet Union. One never knew when or why you might be targeted.

Following the fall of the Ba'th government, the population of women in Iraq was at approximately 60%. They are a definite majority and should be in a better position.

Today there are some glimmers of hope for women accompanied by trepidation. On October 15, 2005 Iraq's new constitution was approved in a nationwide referendum (Coleman, Isobel). Article 14 of that new constitution states that, Iraqis are equal before the law "without discrimination because of sex." (Coleman). But it does not end there. The constitution also states that no law can be passed that contradicts the "established rulings" of Islam (Coleman). For this reason, the constitution has been condemned by critics both inside and outside Iraq as a fundamental setback for a majority of Iraq's population-namely, its women (Coleman). According to Isam al-Khafaji, an Iraqi scholar, the document "could easily deprive women of their rights."(Coleman). Yanar Muhammad, a leading secular activist and the head of the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq, worries that the Islamic provision will turn the country "into an Afghanistan under the Taliban, where oppression and discrimination of women is institutionalized (Coleman).

Iraq's constitution does not state who will decide which version of Islam will take precedence in the country's new legal system (Coleman). But the battle has already begun. Victory by the progressives would have positive implications for all aspects of the future of Iraq, since women's rights are critical to democratic consolidation in transitional and war-torn societies (Coleman). Allowing a full social, political, and economic role for women in Iraq would help ensure its transition to a stable democracy (Coleman). Success for women in Iraq would also reverberate throughout the broader Muslim world (Coleman). In every country where Islamic law is enforced, women's rights have become a divisive issue, and the balance struck between tradition and equality in Iraq will influence these other debates (Coleman).

Although questions of implementation remain, the new Iraqi constitution makes Islam the law of the land (Coleman). This need not mean trouble for Iraq's women, however. Islamic law is open to a wide range of interpretations, some quite democratic (Coleman). If Washington still hopes for a liberal order in Iraq, it should start working with progressive Muslim scholars to advance women's rights through religious channels (Coleman)