Pink and Red Clouds...

Layla Anwar, An Arab Woman Blues

...From being one of the most progressive countries in the Middle East in gender matters, Iraq has been turned in the space of 4 years into one of the most oppressive countries for women. From being a secular state that allowed and encouraged women in all walks of life, it has become a sectarian prison state that targets and murders women... From being a country that respected its women and their contributions to society in arts, politics, literature, poetry, music, science...it has become a country that tortures, imprisons, rapes, mutilates its women and send them to the gallows. From what used to be a civil society, emerged the monsters of Freedom and Democracy, destroying our families, our parents, our children, our lovers, our husbands, our friends...and us. Look at the current ideological atmosphere that reigns over Iraq. It is a disaster of monumental proportions. All the laws pertaining to gender equality have been changed. Everything that Iraqi women struggled for since the 1920’s, everything that the previous governments tried to establish in matters of gender equality, has been ripped apart....

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