Update on the status of women in Iraq: not good.
Iraqi journalist Bushra Juhi has a depressing account of the position of women in post-Saddam Iraq…
“For a woman reporter in Iraq, a hair out of place can cause an uproar.”
“Perhaps worse than the asphyxiating dress code is to not be acknowledged as a professional, a reporter, a human being.”
No kidding. Apparently, this is worst in Najaf, which is under the control of Al-Sadr, whose fundamentalist militia has been fighting the U.S. for a while now… but it is present everywhere. I’ve got to wonder how Iraq can establish a functional democracy when half of the voters (or more) are effectively disenfranchised.
Are candidates for office going to receive public financing? Are their elections going to use ranked voting? Is the ballot going to be truly anonymous… i.e., could a million Iraqi women walk into the polls and secretly vote for a “Women’s Party”? (and would they be allowed to organize and put up candidates)
Would a radical feminist critic be allowed in Parliament, and be allowed to voice her opinions, and obtain fair media coverage?
What do you think? :/
