'I Wish the U.S Government Had Asked': A Conversation with Baghdad

OneWorld US

...Despite what you see in the American press, before the invasion Iraqi women had genuine equality before the law in our country. In Islamic jurisprudence, a woman is viewed with absolute equality to a man since a millennium and half. Unfortunately, in many Islamic countries this equality has not been respected. But in Iraq for decades well-educated women clearly understood their rights and worked hard to maintain them. In Iraq, we had very good national legislation in this respect, a fact that was highlighted by a UNDP study in 1994. Since the beginning of the occupation and in the absence of national authority, new sources of authority have sprung up, such as tribal leaders, religious leaders, militias, etc. This has resulted in the deterioration of human rights in general and of women's rights in particular. We are trying hard now to make the Parliament reinstate the previous legislation concerning women's equality...

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