WOMEN ENCOURAGED TO JOIN POLITICS

December 4, 2003 - (IRIN) It would be a tragedy if women in Iraq’s male-dominated society did not get more involved in forming a new government and in public life, a British human rights advocate told reporters during a recent visit to the capital, Baghdad.

"We have to keep impressing on the men that women have a strong role to play," Ann Clwyd, Britain’s special representative on human rights in Iraq, told journalists. "Women in this society have to be represented and get equal treatment with the men."

Clywd has made several visits to Iraq to check on the rights of women and on detainees, among other things.

Of the 25 members of the US-backed Iraqi Governing Council only three are women. The reluctance of women to join politics increased following the murder of Aqilah al-Hashimi - the only council member to have served in the former government of Saddam Hussein. She was attacked in mid-September by unidentified gunmen who opened fire on the vehicle she was travelling in, causing it to crash.

However, several women interviewed by IRIN agreed that they should be more involved in the reconstruction of the country, but seemed unsure about how to get from where they were now to where they believed they ought to be.

"I can’t involve myself in politics, because I don’t read and write," Rabiha Alwan told IRIN in Baghdad, as she took a break from collecting dead wood from trees in her yard to give to a neighbour for firewood. "But I would like to see more women in politics. I don’t know who they might be, but I would like it."

However, insecurity was so rife at present that women were even too afraid to go shopping at the nearest supermarket just a couple of blocks away, said Mihad Abd al-Fattah, Rabihah's 28-year-old daughter.

"Right now, we can hardly even go outside, because we’re so worried," Mihad told IRIN, tying her black headscarf around her neck more tightly. "But if a woman is well known and educated, of course she is capable of serving her country."

Under the former regime, women had been doing well at work, with many in high-profile jobs, such as doctors, lawyers, teachers and journalists, said Rasmiyah Husayn, a 56 year-old worker at the Cultural and Social Centre of Women (CSCW) office run by a Kurdish political party in Baghdad. But women used also to be dismissed from their jobs for refusing to join the ruling Ba'th Party, or for other political reasons, she noted.

Now, she said, she feared for women's rights because the country was in such turmoil. "I’m pessimistic, and I think that the rights of women will go down. That’s why there’s a need to open this centre here," she told IRIN.

Information and pictures illustrating the centre’s previous work in northern Iraq line the walls of the CSCW office. Now armed guards stand by the doors of the two-month-old centre, which offers computer training, sewing classes, some fitness workouts and various health workshops. "We would sacrifice ourselves to keep our centre open here," Rasmiyah asserted. "We have to continue for the sake of women."

Most Iraqis say their society is religiously conservative and most women wear headscarves or abayas - full-length black garments that cover them from head to toe.

The abaya is often seen as a symbol of oppression by Westerners, although most Iraqi women seem to regard it more as a sign of religious devotion and tradition. "It’s natural for any woman to wear or not to wear it. If you don’t wear one, you’ll be judged only on your mind," Thurayah Sa'id, wearing a loose headscarf and a long jacket over a full-length skirt, all black, told IRIN at the CSCW. "Some women are more conservative than me, though. They judge if a woman is a good Muslim by if she wears the hijab [veil]."

Clwyd said she was well aware of the difficulties faced by women in any society, even her own, in pushing for their rights. "We’d like to see more women on the governing council and on the city council," she said. "I have talked to women who feel excluded. But having fought myself to get into politics, I know how difficult it is to get involved for women."

Meanwhile, Fatimah Hasan, Rabihah's neighbour, talked of more basic needs. She said if a woman were to be elected to the new Iraqi government, she should then focus on helping other women gain access to work and housing. "We are all looking to the future to see what new plans there are for the country," Fatimah told IRIN. "We just ask that we be able to work so we can support our families."