April 7th - Women’s Rights
Threats to suspend women from college if they don't wear veils and the CPA's failure to stand up for women's rights.
“I had a letter from some women students in one of the colleges,” Layla said. “They are being threatened with suspension if they do not wear a veil. There are also some women students in the Fine Art College. They have had threats and been stopped from making music and singing and putting on theatre shows. They want to stop them making any art unless it is religious.”
There’s a billboard near one of the colleges advertising the opinion that veils make you beautiful and respectable. Unfortunately there are some who prefer a more direct method of promoting veils. I’ve no objection whatsoever to veils. My disagreement, and I think I can say Layla’s and that of the young women who contact her, is with the attempt to force them, the denial of their right to choose.
Supporters of Moqtada Al-Sadr have threatened Layla, the Organisation for Women’s Freedom in Iraq which she directs and the Workers’ Communist Party which supports the organisation, as well as individual women, other women’s groups and labour organisations. The threats were reported to, and ignored by, the CPA. The recent suspension of the Al-Hawza newspaper came in response to the extension of threats to the Americans.
The practice of declining to protect women’s rights is not new. The CPA appointed thousands of judges, including only fifteen women. Wen male lawyers protested, at the swearing in ceremony of one of the women, against the promotion of women to the judiciary, the CPA suspended her appointment, acquiescing in the denial of women’s rights to participate in high level public life.
From high level public life, we moved on to the camp at Shuala and the needs of the women there. Layla dropped her voice, even though there was only Aala, Jenny and me in the room with her. “They need underwear. They would never tell a man or a male translator or a stranger but they came to me and said they need underwear.”
Of course. When your family is hungry and needing medicine and there is no work, there’s no money to spend on underwear. But that doesn’t mean you need it any less. Sanitation, drinking water, blankets and such like are more visible needs for anyone assessing on a passing visit or even on regular visits. Likewise they need sanitary towels. There is water on site but it has to be carried from one of three taps. “Normally we use rags, since the sanctions, if we couldn’t afford sanitary towels,” Aala explained, “but it’s so hard for them to wash things now.”
Aala lied to her family about where she was going when she came to meet us. They’re scared for her and try to persuade her to stay at home. “But if I just stay at home I am already dead. Women who have no jobs don’t go out, they don’t do anything, there’s no entertainment. They just cook and clean and wash clothes.” Social life is centred much more on the family than on friends these days. “I see my friends across the fence or in the street but to sit down and drink tea and talk for hours, maybe once or twice a year.”
One of her sisters is a teacher, another is unemployed and the third is looking after their parents and brother. Her mum suffers badly with asthma, her dad has got cancer and one of her three brothers has had epilepsy since collapsing while training in the Al Quds army, reputedly an army for self sacrifice. More highly paid than the regular army, it was also a lifetime commitment. Theoretically, at least, you only spent three years in the conscript army, although a lot of people were refused discharge papers for much longer.
“Every household was supposed to supply someone for Al-Quds Army. If you would not then you were identified as not supporting Saddam. They would write things down about you. Women joined as well. If you wanted to be a teacher or a professional in something then you had to join the party and that means you had to train in the Al Quds army.”
Meanwhile Sadr’s people say that the Sunni and Shia of Iraq are uniting to fight the Americans. In reality there are both Shia and Sunni fighting the Americans but the united part of the claim is doubtful and those actually fighting are still a minority, though the level of support for them could be much greater. Still there’s always a way of making a disaster expand to fill all available space.
Today there was a mosque bombed in Falluja, maybe forty people killed, insurgents, according to the US. It may be true, though the fact there were insurgents inside doesn’t mean there weren’t unarmed people in there too, and besides, bombing a mosque is possibly the quickest way to make the moderates really angry. No one expects anyone to turn up for a meeting these days, let alone on time, with all the bridge and road closures.
There are planes overhead but this part of town is still pretty quiet. There’s been fighting in Abu Ghraib. Marwan called to say things were happening in Adamiya, Iraqis and American soldiers killed in the streets again. In the Abu Khanifa mosque people were queuing to give blood, food and money, chanting while they jostled for the too small supply of blood bags.
Who can say if there’s some kind of plan behind all this?
There’s a billboard near one of the colleges advertising the opinion that veils make you beautiful and respectable. Unfortunately there are some who prefer a more direct method of promoting veils. I’ve no objection whatsoever to veils. My disagreement, and I think I can say Layla’s and that of the young women who contact her, is with the attempt to force them, the denial of their right to choose.
Supporters of Moqtada Al-Sadr have threatened Layla, the Organisation for Women’s Freedom in Iraq which she directs and the Workers’ Communist Party which supports the organisation, as well as individual women, other women’s groups and labour organisations. The threats were reported to, and ignored by, the CPA. The recent suspension of the Al-Hawza newspaper came in response to the extension of threats to the Americans.
The practice of declining to protect women’s rights is not new. The CPA appointed thousands of judges, including only fifteen women. Wen male lawyers protested, at the swearing in ceremony of one of the women, against the promotion of women to the judiciary, the CPA suspended her appointment, acquiescing in the denial of women’s rights to participate in high level public life.
From high level public life, we moved on to the camp at Shuala and the needs of the women there. Layla dropped her voice, even though there was only Aala, Jenny and me in the room with her. “They need underwear. They would never tell a man or a male translator or a stranger but they came to me and said they need underwear.”
Of course. When your family is hungry and needing medicine and there is no work, there’s no money to spend on underwear. But that doesn’t mean you need it any less. Sanitation, drinking water, blankets and such like are more visible needs for anyone assessing on a passing visit or even on regular visits. Likewise they need sanitary towels. There is water on site but it has to be carried from one of three taps. “Normally we use rags, since the sanctions, if we couldn’t afford sanitary towels,” Aala explained, “but it’s so hard for them to wash things now.”
Aala lied to her family about where she was going when she came to meet us. They’re scared for her and try to persuade her to stay at home. “But if I just stay at home I am already dead. Women who have no jobs don’t go out, they don’t do anything, there’s no entertainment. They just cook and clean and wash clothes.” Social life is centred much more on the family than on friends these days. “I see my friends across the fence or in the street but to sit down and drink tea and talk for hours, maybe once or twice a year.”
One of her sisters is a teacher, another is unemployed and the third is looking after their parents and brother. Her mum suffers badly with asthma, her dad has got cancer and one of her three brothers has had epilepsy since collapsing while training in the Al Quds army, reputedly an army for self sacrifice. More highly paid than the regular army, it was also a lifetime commitment. Theoretically, at least, you only spent three years in the conscript army, although a lot of people were refused discharge papers for much longer.
“Every household was supposed to supply someone for Al-Quds Army. If you would not then you were identified as not supporting Saddam. They would write things down about you. Women joined as well. If you wanted to be a teacher or a professional in something then you had to join the party and that means you had to train in the Al Quds army.”
Meanwhile Sadr’s people say that the Sunni and Shia of Iraq are uniting to fight the Americans. In reality there are both Shia and Sunni fighting the Americans but the united part of the claim is doubtful and those actually fighting are still a minority, though the level of support for them could be much greater. Still there’s always a way of making a disaster expand to fill all available space.
Today there was a mosque bombed in Falluja, maybe forty people killed, insurgents, according to the US. It may be true, though the fact there were insurgents inside doesn’t mean there weren’t unarmed people in there too, and besides, bombing a mosque is possibly the quickest way to make the moderates really angry. No one expects anyone to turn up for a meeting these days, let alone on time, with all the bridge and road closures.
There are planes overhead but this part of town is still pretty quiet. There’s been fighting in Abu Ghraib. Marwan called to say things were happening in Adamiya, Iraqis and American soldiers killed in the streets again. In the Abu Khanifa mosque people were queuing to give blood, food and money, chanting while they jostled for the too small supply of blood bags.
Who can say if there’s some kind of plan behind all this?