President Bush had made the claim after US forces overran Iraq in 2003 that Iraqi women were now free and had a bright future. But seeing their condition in the country today one is forced to say the opposite is true.
During Saddam Hussain’s time woman were protected by laws which gave them the opportunity to participate in the governance of the country. Repressive Muslim laws had largely been kept at bay. Saddam may have used rape as weapon, but at that time he and his henchmen were the only devils. Today women are falling prey to everyone.
Especially to those who have guns. Even US soldiers have had sex with detained Iraqi women at Abu Gharib. Islamists have raped Iraqi Christian women in retalialation.
Any women accused of adultery or of sex before marriage are killed or burned by the family itself to protect its “honour”. Or they fall to the whims of local sheikhs who dispense arbitrary justice. This happens especially in the Kurdish areas. The Iraqi judicial courts do not come into the picture at all.
Not that the Iraqi laws are any better. The Iraqi penal code prescribes leniency for those who commit such crimes for “honourable motives”, enabling some of the men involved to get off with no more than a fine.
The future is likely to get worse. Women members of Iraqi parliament are strongly opposing article 41 of the draft constitution, which would give greater say in family matters [matters related to women] to different communities and sects. In other words strict stifling Sharia is in the offing.
Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki has hardly emerged as the champion of women. He sided with the three policemen recently who had been accused of raping a Sunni woman and honoured them instead.
Comments
i will reapeat again.....In Iraq, it is clear that we have just replaced some islamic freaks with even more islamic freaks and its beginning to look like the more recent imposed islamic law is even worse than before!
Running a state by Islamic law does not call for basic Humanitarian Rights!....where is the United Nations in this?.....I know where...they have ran scared from all Islamic Nations, so not to put another strain on relations between the Islamic nation and Western nations......soooooo....they jut keep out of it hoping not much people will notice whats happening to women! chickens!
I know we need to keep the peace..but common people........
No doubt, the monster of terrorism is engulfing the world day by day but along with this, there is a creeping predicament that too is swallowing up human race but there’s a difference in this case. Here the victims are women, from ‘crimes of passion’ to ‘dowry deaths’, not to mention domestic violence, many types of aggression against women occur at the hands of family members. The so-called ‘honor killing’ of women and girls in some Muslim nations is one horrifying manifestation of this global phenomenon.