WUNRN
|
WAFDI
leads many workshops for women, such as this sewing class in the Al-Wafaa
refugee camp. Also, Iraqi women are mobilizing for their rights across all
sectors of Iraqi society. (Photo credit: WAFDI) |
29 April 2010
[MediaGlobal]:
Basma
Fakri, President of the Women’s Alliance for a Democratic Iraq (WAFDI),
a women’s empowerment organization uniting women across political, ethnic, and
religious lines, told MediaGlobal: “Unfortunately, women’s rights is not
one of the main factors on the negotiation table between the main political
parties, but that won’t stop Iraqi women from keep on fighting for their
rights.”
Women in
parliament fought for open electoral lists so voters can choose both parties and
individuals. They contributed to the implementation of a quota system; women
are constitutionally mandated to fill 25 percent of seats in parliament, and
even with the continuing negotiations women have already secured 82 seats
(25.23 percent) in the March elections. (The
Women in
government come from diverse backgrounds, with varying levels of experience in
politics and civil society. Some are considered seat holders, put in place by
their party to fulfill the quota requirement. But once in parliament, even those
less active in politics previously have begun to take on their roles and fight
for causes they believe in. Janet Benshoof, CEO of the Global
Justice Center, an international NGO that works with women to implement
international equality laws into national legal structures, told MediaGlobal
“Even if some of them were just put in by the religious party to occupy the
woman’s slot, those women don’t all change, but a lot of them change when they
get in office.”
Women in
parliament have unified across party lines with the support of WAFDI.
They have worked for women’s rights, but have also expanded their priorities.
Women were influential in passing a law that allows NGOs to incorporate
without the support of a political party, a shift from earlier standards that
had politicized civil society.
Women also
play an essential role in fighting corruption. Carole Basri is an
Iraqi-American lawyer who has worked extensively on anti-corruption measures
internationally and in Iraq. She cited studies saying that internationally
women are less likely than men to be corrupted, and explained her experience of
women fighting corruption: “What I have found is that women in most societies
are outsiders, and because of their outsider status, they are more able to spot
something that looks strange that is probably not part of the process, that’s
corruption. They’re also more likely not to take bribes.” She also emphasized
the solidarity of women’s anti-corruption work across party lines: “I was
surprised at how this became a rallying call for religious and secular women,
that this is one area that there was a commonality.”
To be
active citizens and legislators Iraqi women must be empowered through economic
advancement and education, according to Tamara Quinn, an Iraqi-American businesswoman.
Quinn is the CEO
of AIX
Global, a medical supply company started in 2006 that sells equipment to Iraq’s
ministry of health and the private sector. They will open a plant in Kurdistan
this year that will employ widows to give them business skills and financial
independence.
Quinn had
been hoping to work with women entrepreneurs through the nonprofit sector, but
when she was unable to secure funding for the program she created a private
business. She told MediaGlobal “A woman cannot really be a leader or
think about democracy until she puts food on the table, and so far I have not
been very successful in changing how the grants are directed. But that’s why
we’re doing it from the business standpoint, because I really believe that is
essential for the future for any woman.”
Widows are
an extremely vulnerable group in Iraq, according to Judge Zakkia Hakki, Iraq’s
first woman judge who was appointed in 1959 and is now a member of parliament.
She told MediaGlobal that there are 2 million widows in Iraq following
the deadly violence under Saddam Hussein. Widows without vocational skills are
often forced into marriage as a second, third, or fourth wife. Hakki said, “A
job is the only way to ensure independence and dignity for these women.”
Quinn’s
work to provide vulnerable women and widows with job skills is not meant to
deter women from remarrying if they choose to. Quinn specified: “I think it is
important to help them stand on their feet. Now at that time, if they want to
make a decision and go get married, and be a third or fourth wife, I’m not
against it at all; it’s their own decision. It just does not need to be where
they are forced into something just because they have no alternatives.”
The Iraqi
High Tribunal (IHT),
the court appointed to prosecute crimes committed under Saddam Hussein’s rule
from 1968 to 2003 has made enormous strides in defining gender-based crimes as
war crimes and crimes against humanity. While only 2 of 55 IHT judges are women, GJC
has been working with all the IHT
judges to implement international laws concerning women.
Thus, women
are advocating across Iraqi society for their rights, and standing against
violence, stigma, and discrimination in their struggle. So far they are doing
so without significant tangible support from the international community.
Benshoof told MediaGlobal: “People talk about supporting development in
the Mideast, they talk about supporting women’s development…but nobody does
things like explicitly try to support the women judges now to be sitting judges,
[or] explicitly try to support the women legislators…nobody is focusing on what
everybody identifies as key to peace.”
As Iraqi
women continue to self-advocate there is ample opportunity for the
international community to support their efforts through funding, training and
capacity building.
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