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02/06/2005:

"Backlash in Baghdad: An Interview with Manal Omar"

One third of the candidates in Iraq’s January 30 elections are women, and women have been guaranteed 25 percent of the seats in the country’s new national assembly. But even with such provisions in place, the status of women in Iraqi society after Sunday’s vote remains uncertain. Women are facing a growing backlash, according to Manal Omar, the director of Women for Women International’s program in Iraq. “It’s been really difficult coming to terms with how bad the situation has become,” she says. “We’re seeing women’s rights leap backwards.”

The precarious position of Iraqi women is outlined in a recent report (PDF) by the WWI, which is based in Washington, D.C., and assists women in post-conflict countries. It paints a bleak picture: Iraqi women are under siege from all sides, and they’re losing their access to civil society in the process. Much of the blame lies with the bloody insurgency and the strictures of religious conservatives, but the report also criticizes the U.S.-led coalition and the interim Iraqi government for ignoring -- and at times undermining -- women’s concerns. A WWI survey found that while Iraqi women overwhelmingly want opportunities for education, work outside the home, and political participation, their most basic needs are not being met. Ninety-five percent said their families did not have adequate electricity; only five percent said the government had done something to improve their lives in the past year. Omar criticizes the U.S. for supporting policies on paper -- such as the 25-percent representation rule -- without creating the conditions that would make those changes stick once a new government takes over. “The Kodak moment has been more important than the reality,” she says.
Full Article: motherjones.com