Women’s social movements in Iraq

Women’s social movements in Iraq

Spring 2009

During the last 50 years, Iraq has gone through many struggles, conflicts and wars. Iraqi people witnessed and harshly experienced more than four direct wars during just the last thirty years .To start, a brief review of recent history on Iraq should be mentioned to clarify how bad Iraqi people, in general, have suffered and women, in particular. Iraqi people suffered from dictatorship, wars and nowadays an over added occupation. In 1980, Iraqis found themselves trapped in a fierce war with their neighbor country Iran that went on till 1988 and caused a lot of suffering to the Iraqi people (Wright). The number of Iraqi soldiers who were killed is estimated to fall between 150,000 and 340,000 (Al-Ali and Pratt). In addition, many Iraqi civilians died as a result of this long war. Women have lost their sons, husbands and relatives and were left facing immense emotional and economical challenges (Wright). In less than two years after this bloody war finished, Iraq went through another war with the United States, and 30 of its allies as a result of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Economic sanction was imposed on Iraq by the United Nations Security Council from 1990 till 2003 which really had awful effects on Iraqi people ("Sanctions on Iraq."). The last dramatic event which Iraq has gone through was the American-led invasion on Iraq in 2003 (Miller and Kenedi). The invasion turned the country upside down because of the chaos, lawlessness and insecurity that accompanied and followed the invasion and continued until present time (Al-Ali and Pratt). All these factors have led Iraq to suffer from un-development in all sectors as wars and ongoing conflicts impede the country’s promising development. Significantly, those factors have led Iraqis to create several social movements to change the bad situations they live in such as insecurity, lack of electricity and water (Al-Ali and Pratt). Also, many Iraqi social movements are created to defend and demand women’s rights.

Women in general and especially Iraqi women have suffered from the above reasons and factors. Iraqi Women’s social movements have a long history of demanding specific rights.

An important question that needs to be answered here is how could women’s social movements be helpful to improve Iraqi women’s status during the last 40 years? My main goal of this research paper is to answer this question stressing on the following three dimensions: the difficulties that led women to create social movements, the goals of women’s social movement has addressed and finally the difficulties women faced because of their movement.

Women’s social movement is not one of the new social movements (Woodsmall 48). In Iraq, women’s social movement has started its activities to demand women’s rights since the 1920s (Woodsmall). Women participated in the 1920 revolution in Iraq against the British invasion and occupation following the World War I and helped men in this revolution and started their activities since that time (Fernea and Louis). This shows that women are always active and need to actively participate and achieve their goals of freedom and get their rights. Back to the history of women’s social movements in Iraq, in 1923 women created an organization to teach orphan girls but this organization was soon closed (Woodsmall). I think this shows that such organizations faced difficulties and male dominated society opposed and fought such organizations led by women. Although women’s social movements were unstable and depended on male members, women never gave up and started to create other organizations. In 1944, women’s social movements and organizations have started to be independent and created various organizations such as Sisterhood of Freedom which have branches in Baghdad and Basra (Woodsmall). Such organizations were supported by the British aids in the country at that time (Woodsmall). This indicates that because women’s organizations usually face such difficulties from the society, they ask support from foreign aids. Iraqi women’s social movements were motivated to keep going and demanding their rights by the support from other movements and organizations in other Arab countries such as Egypt (Woodsmall). In my opinion, this clearly shows that most of Arab women share similar suffering in the Arab world and that’s why the cooperation between Arab countries does exist in regard to women’s movements issue.

After giving a brief history on the women’s social movements in Iraq, some difficulties, during the Baath and Saddam Hussein’s regime or the occupation, which led Iraqi women to create social movements, should be tackled. Those difficulties would lead women to assign goals of their movements; some of these goals of the women’s social movements will be mentioned .Finally, difficulties women faced during creating their social movements are worth to be addressed.

First, difficulties women faced during the Baath and Saddam Hussein regime must be mentioned first to have an idea of the kind of magnitude of suffering women had before the war in 2003. Iraqi women indeed faced some difficulties from the Baath party and Saddam Hussein regime. Although the Baath and Hussein regime promoted the status of women in the early 1970s and 1980s, Iraqi women later faced many difficulties with the Baath’s strategy of imposing their ideas on people (Al-Ali and Pratt). At the end of the 1970s, the Baath started to change its strategy and opposed everyone who is not Baathi (Al-Ali and Pratt). Women who were not involved in political life were enjoying their lives and rights away from friction and conflicts. However, women who participate in activities against the Baath regime would be harshly fought (Al-Ali 112). However, this clearly shows that women were not fought because they are women but because of their political activities. In my opinion, this is the problem of the previous regime of Saddam Hussein and Baath party to fight people who disagree or do not follow their ideology. For example, Zeynab J, a lab assistant working in one of the universities of Iraq who is a member of the Daawa party, was fought and dismissed from their colleagues and boss in college as she was not a Baathi (Al-Ali 116). Zeynab had to leave Iraq in the 1970s after receiving many threats of killing (Al-Ali 116). The example of Zeynab might indicate that repression of any regime can lead people to create social movements to get their rights of freedom of expression.etc. Zeynab left Iraq and joined the Daawa party and lived in the United Sates trying to participate in the social movement to change the political regime in Iraq (Al-Ali 112). The case of Zeynab also might show that such women who oppose the regime faced two options; whether to leave Iraq by force or to stay in Iraq but agree on the Baath ideology. The political repression prevents many women from creating any social movement in Iraq as it would be repressed as soon as it is created. In fact, women during the Baath and Saddam Hussein regime in the 1980s did enjoy some of their rights such as education, health care and child care. However, women later suffered from wars, economic sanction and other conflicts that forced women to take harsh responsibilities and the burden to raise families in absence of their men (Al-Ali and Pratt). This was even harsher in the 1990s period as of the economic sanctions when women suffered a lot in finding and home making all for the family with sharp shortage of income and fund submission. Also, lack of political opportunities and participation was one of the difficulties that women suffered from.

Second, after discussing the difficulties women faced during the Baath and Saddam Hussein regime, difficulties women faced after the US invasion in 2003 look even more sever and much different. The main sufferings Iraqis in general and Iraqi women faced after the US invasion are the insecurity, chaos, kidnapping and lawlessness (Al-Ali and Pratt). Also, women nowadays are forced to wear Hijab, the veil, as the extremists control the country after the US invasion (Al-Ali and Pratt 128). Although Hijab is claimed to be Islamic nature, the hijab was imposed even on women from other religions such as Christianity. Iraqi women as the majority of Iraqis suffered from lack of electricity and water because of the destructive war (Al-Ali and Pratt 123). Also, one of the difficulties women faced before and after the war was the lack of women’s representatives in the parliament. Consequently, women have started to demand their right to be active in the political life in Iraq after long years of repression.

The various difficulties Iraqi women faced whether during the Baath and Hussein’s regime or the occupation period led women from middle and high class to create social movement (Al-Ali and Pratt). Iraqi women’s social movements have a variety of goals to change some unpleasant situations women suffer from. One of the main goals of women’s social movements in Iraq after the invasion is to improve the disastrous situations such as standard of living, health care, electricity and water (Al-Ali and Pratt 122). Also one of the major goals of women’s social movements in Iraq is girls’ education as after the chaos, kidnapping and insecurity, many families became hesitant and afraid of sending their daughters to schools (Al-Ali and Pratt 122). This led to sharp decline in the percentage of educated girls in the society. Helping those in need in hospitals and poor people is also one of the goals that Iraqi women’s movements were assigned to improve their terrible situation after the invasion (Al-Ali and Pratt). Moreover, women attempted to clean some of the schools in Baghdad to rehabilitate after destruction as a result of the war and bombings (Al-Ali and Pratt).In my opinion, This indicates that women’s social movements do not just care about women’s issues alone but also care about other social issues such as poverty, education and health. Furthermore, the most important goal of women’s movement in Iraq is to teach women and poor people how to depend on themselves and try to improve their situation (Al-Ali and Pratt). For example, some activists in women’s movement organize computer sessions to teach young people something useful for their future career and living (Al-Ali and Pratt). I think this is more useful than providing people directly with food or clothes as it is obvious more useful to teach people something they can benefit from in their life. In addition to helping the poor and widows, women’s social movements tend to fight the sectarianism that became widespread in the Iraqi society nowadays by treating everyone equally (Al-Ali and Pratt). The final and significant goal of women’s social movements is to get gender balance with equal political opportunities in the Iraqi parliament (Al-Ali and Pratt). In this aspect, women enjoy a minimum of 25% representation in all parliament and local council’s membership by law. In addition to the previous demands, new demands have appeared such as the withdrawals of the American and foreign forces from Iraq (Al-Ali and Pratt 128). However, some other women’s movements prefer the US and foreign forces to stay in Iraq because of the fear of the control of the sectarian and extremist religious parties once forces are withdrawals (Al-Ali and Pratt).

The ways and means to achieve the assigned goals mentioned above are various. Women who were living outside Iraq before 2003 started their activities by collecting funds from colleagues and friends and not political parties to create social movement (Al-Ali and Pratt). This shows that not all social movements are necessarily created by political parties. They started with minor stuff such as cleaning schools and offering services for Iraqis. The local organizations were more helpful to the women’s social movements than the foreign organization (Al-Ali and Pratt). This might indicate that Iraqis are in need of social movements and help so they are ready to help anyone who might take the initiative to improve the terrible situations postwar in Iraq. Women were able to help improving dreadful situations of some families who were affected by the war by providing food and medicine. This is considered an achievement to women’s social movement in Iraq as they were able to achieve some of their goals.

As for the political opportunities for women in the Iraqi Parliament, women started to raise awareness among women about the importance of the political participation of women in the Iraqi government as decision makers (Al-Ali and Pratt). After the invasion of Iraq in 2003, many women decided to create social movements to demand their right of equal political opportunities (Al-Ali and Pratt). “We had an equal share of pain and we need an equal share of peace”, quoted Shanes Rashid an Iraqi women activist (Al-Ali and Pratt). Rashid’s quotation shows that the demand of equal opportunities for women is a normal demand and one of women’s rights. As the dominated parties in the Iraqi government are the sectarian ones, women from the secular parties decided to participate in the political ‘war’ as some might call against the sectarians (Al-Ali and Pratt).The Iraqi government in the beginning started to ignore many skilled people and women. As a result, women decided to participate by creating strikes, demonstrations and campaigns demanding their right to be part of decision making in the “New Iraq” (Al-Ali and Pratt). They started to demand that women should have quota in the new government and institution. However, the Americans refused that claiming that they do not believe in quota arrangement (Al-Ali and Pratt). This was puzzling and very surprising to the activists as the Americans used the quota but ethnically and religiously and ignored women (Al-Ali and Pratt). As a result of this unfairness, activists decided to intensify demonstrations, strikes and campaigns to demand their right (Al-Ali and Pratt). Accordingly, the government decided to give women a minimum of 25% quota in the Iraqi parliament and consequently in local councils (Al-Ali and Pratt). This is considered an achievement to the women’s social movement. Women do not just care for having female representatives in the parliament, but they care more about the active women who can fight for Iraqi women’s rights (Al-Ali and Pratt). However, some women argue that quota for women is not the solution to improve women’s status but election of whether women or men should be based on qualifications, experience, education not on gender or ethnicity , quoted an Iraqi activist Samira Mustafa (Al-Ali and Pratt). As when women have quota in the parliament, political parties would nominate the women who might be the daughters, wives or relatives of the political parties’ leaders, Samira added (Al-Ali and Pratt). In my opinion, I might agree with this activist as Iraq has not reached the level of transparent and smooth democracy that people would elect the candidates based on their qualifications or experience but would continue to elect the people that the political parties would nominate. However, at the same time, I might agree with some other activists such as those who argue that this minimum 25% quota is the first step into democratic Iraq (Al-Ali and Pratt). Also, activists who are with the 25% quota believe that they should be present in the parliament to demand women’s rights against the extremists who oppose women’s freedom and at the same time provide women with practical opportunity for training and skills development (Al-Ali and Pratt).

After women got their political opportunities to be part of the Iraqi parliament and got 25% quota by the help of social movements, women in the parliament started to discuss some issues directly related to women (Al-Ali and Pratt). Some extremists in the Iraqi parliament proposed changing the Iraqi personal status code, which is based on civil rights and was endorsed early 1960s, to a more conservative one (Al-Ali and Pratt). For example, Abd al Aziz Al Hakeem, the head of a conservative Islamic party, proposed to link the Iraqi personal status code to conservative Islamic laws and Sharea which might minimize the role of women in society (Al-Ali and Pratt). Many women and secular men stood firm against this proposal. Women in particular started to organize social movement against that notion and backward movement. In my opinion, because Iraq consists of various ethnic and religious groups, the Iraqi personal code should include all Iraqis and not to be linked to one specific religion. Activists in women’s social movements tried to contact international organizations to put pressure on the government and about any attempt to apply this change proposed by Al Hakeem (Al-Ali and Pratt). This action is called the Boomerang Model or theory which is based on seeking support of international organizations or governments to put pressure on local government if the activists fail to affect the local government (David, Soule, and Kriesi ). Women asked the human rights organizations to put pressure on the Iraqi government to refuse this proposal (Al-Ali and Pratt). Consequently, The Iraqi government refused the proposal of Al Hakeem to change the Iraqi personal status code because of the pressure on them from international organizations and women’s social movements (Al-Ali and Pratt).

Creating a social movement is not something easy. As a result, Iraqi women have faced many difficulties in creating their social movements. The first difficulty is the violence used against the activists during the chaotic atmosphere after the invasion in 2003 (Al-Ali and Pratt). Many activists were in danger of kidnapping and violence as there is no effective police or government to protect them (Al-Ali and Pratt). Women kept working to improve the bad situations in Iraq and to make any differences in people’s lives (Al-Ali and Pratt). Secular women who fight for their rights in the new Iraqi government were fought by the sectarian groups (Al-Ali and Pratt), Despite that, secular women keep fighting for their rights and for new democratic Iraq facing all these difficulties (Al-Ali and Pratt). Also, such women are at risk of random shooting from occupation and religious groups who oppose such movements (Al-Ali and Pratt).

In conclusion, Iraqi social movements have a significant role in demanding Iraqi women’s rights. To conclude this broad topic on women’s social movement, we should first identify who are the ones that women fight against? In my opinion, Iraqi women in their social movements fight the sectarian people and most of them are men who do not care about women’s rights and status. However, women also fight other groups of women who have backward and sectarian ideas who are usually working within the sectarian parties (Al-Ali and Pratt). As a result, women’s social movement is not just to oppose men in general but to fight groups of men and women who limiting women of their natural freedom. Another question that should be answered is how successful women’s social movements were in Iraq? I think these movements were successful to some extent as they still face difficulties in a male dominated society. This does not mean that social movements did not achieve some of their goals. Some goals were achieved such as the 25% quota and other goals. As for the suffering of women in the last 40 years, Iraqi women have suffered a lot during the Baath and Saddam Hussein’s regime and that is continually nowadays under- occupation. In my opinion, during the Baath and Hussein’s regime, there was only one group that women were fighting against government while nowadays there are various groups who oppose women’s freedom. As a result, women’s social movements have a long way to go to get all their assigned goals to promote women’s status in society.


Works Cited
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Fernea , Robert , and Roger Louis. The Iraqi Revolution of 1958. 1991
Miller, John, and Aaron Kenedi. INSIDE IRAQ. 2002
"Sanctions on Iraq." Economist 326.7804 (1993): 15-6. .
Snow, David, Sarah A. Soule, and Hanspeter Kriesi. The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements. 2007
Woodsmall, Ruth F. The role of women in Lebanon ,Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and Syria. 1956.
Wright, Claudia. "Implications of the Iraq-Iran War." Foreign Affairs 59.2 (1980): 275-303. .