Activists push for women's rights in Iraq

Salam Smeisim, an economist, wears a head scarf and long skirt; her boss, Narmin Othman, Minister of State for Women, wears a black trouser suit with no scarf. Their choice of dress might seem innocuous to the outsider, but clothing is a big symbol in a country where around 90 percent of women are covered head to toe in abayas (black gowns) or wear head scarves pinned around their chins. The two women share a passion for women's issues and want to get more women involved in politics. To help achieve this they are holding an all-female mini "national assembly" in the coming days to name 25 women to be advisers to Othman. Some 400 participants have been invited to the conference, which will recieve US $100,000 in funding from the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). Iraqi leaders in August named a national assembly of 100 to serve as an advisory group to the country's interim cabinet. "I am Islamic, but I also am an activist," Smeisim told IRIN. "I don't see any contradiction between women's rights and Islam, but I'm fighting male attitudes here. Many men want to keep women from taking their place in the new Iraq," Smeisim said. But such activists are finding women to run for office and educating female voters to let them know they can vote the way they want to in the future. The new parliament, scheduled to open in January, is to be 25 percent women under rules set up by former US administrator Paul Bremer. Women currently make up 55 percent of the population, a result of the country's numerous wars which have killed a large number of men. Iraqi voters had no choice for 35 years, since former president Saddam Hussein's Baath Party was in charge, Smeisim said. Now, six of the more than 30 interim ministers are female, Othman told IRIN, adding that the country now has over 500 women's organisations. "People were controlled under Saddam, but those who are older and well-educated remember their rights and know the meaning of equality and women's issues. Iraq's society might be a male-oriented society, but why not consider that a woman can be president or prime minister?" she said. But the ongoing violence in Iraq makes attitudes slower to change, Amal al-Mamalachi, an adviser at the Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works, told IRIN. Kidnappings and shootings in the streets keep women at home protecting their families, she said. Islamic conservatives have also encouraged women to cover up when they go outside, the adviser added. "The are not afraid for themselves, but for their families." One of the first government leaders to be assassinated last autumn was a woman, before assassinations of top officials became almost commonplace. American lawyer Fern Holland was killed last spring after speaking out on women's issues. Several women leaders have been threatened with death for speaking in favour of women's rights in Iraq in recent months, including Yanar Mohammed, head of the Organisation for Women's Federation in Iraq. But if women activists don't speak out now, they'll be fighting for years to get heard in government and elsewhere, the three women believe. "This is the only opportunity for us to change," al-Mamalachi said. "If we don't have a base for women to become important figures in government, later it will be hard to push our way in." To get ready for the coming election season, women leaders first met outside political groups, such as the US-based International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute. A group of women are outside the country learning how to be "trainers" who will come back to teach other women in Iraq what they have learned, Othman said. Finally, the women's ministry will start a TV and radio campaign to educate voters on their rights. "We will make a list of women for the election who we think will fight for women's rights in this country," al-Mamalachi said.