Journal of International Peace Operations
volume 7, Number 4 – January-February 2012
Murals being painted to raise awareness of the issue of violence against women.
Filling a critical void for the future of Iraq
As U.S. troops withdraw from Iraq and the U.S. role transitions from military-led to civilian-led engagement, a number of questions linger about Iraq’s governance, stability and security. But of critical importance is how the transition will affect the status of women and vulnerable groups, and how civil society will support the transition.
Over the last nine years, the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) has been one of the prime supporters of Iraqi civil society, especially in terms of capacity building and technical assistance provided to women leaders and organizations that work on gender-equity and peacebuilding in Iraq. The Institute’s Iraq Priority Grant Program has worked since 2004 to create indigenous institutions that contribute to preventing conflict as well as other programs that offer training in problem-solving and conflict resolution.
In December 2011, USIP hosted a discussion featuring two women civil society leaders from Iraq. Suzan Aref and Zainab Sadik Jaafar’s USIP-supported projects enable them to promote positive roles for women as peacebuilders, and provide mechanisms and strategies to combat discrimination and violence against women in Iraq. The two women highlighted the critical roles that women play in contributing to peace and stability in post-conflict Iraq during the panel discussion on 6 December in Washington, D.C. They also foreshadowed the types of challenges women will face as American troops withdraw.
Aref and the Women Empowerment Organization
Aref leads the Women Empowerment Organization (WEO) in Erbil. The WEO works to enhance local capacity to increase rural and marginalized women’s awareness of their rights and the laws protecting them. It helps to expose them to strategies and mechanisms (legal and otherwise) for securing these rights. Aref also developed an action plan on the basis of an analysis of court cases that identifies gaps in the legislative support for women.
In Aref’s assessment, the success of the projects came from implementing culture-appropriate mechanisms to reach disadvantaged women. They run the gamut, from a mobile legal aid clinic, a telephone hotline for women to report cases of abuse and to seek help, training sessions and a variety of publications on women’s rights, as well as television and radio advocacy. There is also a website providing information about women’s rights and needs.
The organization trained its staff and a group of master trainers to deliver training to targeted groups of women on gender equality, family law and human rights in Erbil and Ninewa provinces. One of the outcomes of this project is the establishment of a network of service providers that bring together local and international NGOs and governmental institutions to provide social services to women in the northern area. Aref was recently awarded a certificate of appreciation from the Kurdish Regional Government in Iraq for her efforts in advancing women’s rights and contributing to the peace and stability of the region.
Jaafar and the Al-Mustaqbal Center of Women
Five hundred miles away in the southern city of Basra in Iraq, Jaafar leads Al-Mustaqbal Center of Women. With the support of USIP, the organization launched a public education campaign denouncing violence against women. The campaign broke fear barriers that militant Islamic militias, mainly the Mahdi Army, imposed on the community. In 2007, the Basra Police Directorate reported 133 cases of killings of women, most the result of accusations by extremists of violating Islamic teachings. In reality, a majority of these victims were women’s rights activists, doctors and prominent professionals who were outspoken about the rising curb on women’s rights and civil liberties by militant groups. Al-Mustaqbal Center conducted an integrated cluster of activities in the Basra province that included public education symposia to openly discuss the issues leading to violence, and to share strategies on ways to address them.
As part of their efforts to educate the community on the rights of women, the Al-Mustaqbal Center produced a short film titled “Be Tender with Flasks” documenting the efforts of the campaign that was aired on several local and regional satellite channels. The documentary is grounded in the teachings of Islam that not only promote peace but also the special status of women in society. The title, a reference to Islam, was purposefully selected as an open invitation for Muslim clerics and followers of Islam to take notice. Indeed, the documentary features a religious leader who speaks strongly against violence against women and practices known as “honor killings.”
The Long Road Ahead
Both Aref and Jaafar recognize that the real work has yet to begin. In their discussions during their week-long visit to Washington, they raised issues and challenges facing Iraqi women and women NGO leaders today, and how they may intensify after the withdrawal of American troops. Many women-led civil society organizations have an intense “fear of abandonment” by the international community. They worry that the support they have enjoyed since 2003 will end and that international relations will be reduced to dealing with the government through official and diplomatic missions and exclude direct communication with the Iraqi people through civil society channels.
In that respect, they fear that without the physical presence of U.S. troops and international organizations that put pressure on the government, women activists will be left alone to confront security challenges and deal with the militias. They also fear government regulations that may limit their work.
Much work still needs to be done in the judicial framework of laws governing the status of women, especially that of the Personal Status Law. While the law that passed in 1959 is considered to be the most progressive in the region, there remains room for revisions to make it more compliant with international laws and conventions.
It also remains vulnerable to abuse and misinterpretation. For example, immediately after the fall of the regime, certain Islamic political parties tried to install laws that would change the Personal Status Law and give powers to the courts to adjudicate cases of marriage, divorce and inheritance along ethnic and sectarian lines. The Iraqi Interim Governing Council issued Resolution 137 in 2003 that would have given power to courts to rule in all disputes concerning marriage and divorce based solely on religious and sectarian beliefs and interpretations of Shari’a law. Domestic and international women and human rights organizations campaigned against this law, which led the then U.S. Civil Administrator Paul L. Bremer to overrule it. Considered to be a huge achievement for women activists, just two years later the same exact provisions reappeared under the guise of Article 41 of the Iraqi permanent Constitution ratified by public referendum in 2005. Once again, Iraqi women, with the support of the international community, are carrying out an active campaign seeking amendment to this Article’s provisions in which they see a tremendous threat to women’s rights.
Furthermore, there is a strong trend by Islamic militant groups and political parties, especially in the southern region of Iraq, to impose strict dress codes and curb social and political interaction of women in the public realm. As Jaafar said: “I am working to gain back the rights that my mother enjoyed in her time before I can ask for more rights for me and my daughter!”
The history of women’s status in Iraq is one of many contrasts. For example, it is notable that women made significant gains in securing rights and civil liberties in the 1960’s through the 1990s, despite violent political changes and an eight-year war with neighboring Iran. In fact, during that era, women were in many leadership positions in public service, filling the vacancies left by their male counterparts who were recruited to fight the war. But it was short-lived. As soon as the conflict ended in 1988, the Iraq government issued decrees that forced women to relinquish those positions to give men returning from the battlefronts ample employment opportunities.
By 2003, the war against Iraq and the subsequent fall of the Saddam Hussein regime opened new avenues for Iraqi women. Instantaneously, independent women-led civil society organizations formed, and those that previously operated clandestinely rose to the public view. Women’s voices were heard loud and clear as they actively advocated for rights and gender equality and denounced violence and discriminatory practices against them. This brought many of these cases of violations to public debate. Women leaders took important roles in the country’s parliamentary elections and constitutional referendum. The new Iraqi permanent constitution stipulates a 25 percent quota of women in the public sector, but it has also created new obstacles. Iraqi political parties staffed their blocs in the parliament with women in order to meet the quota. But the quality of those women’s contributions to the debate remains limited, a reflection only of their political bloc’s agenda. It is striking that the strong capacities among women leaders remain within the civil society sector. There are plenty of qualified women activists who see themselves as major contributors to nation-building and the strengthening of democracy in Iraq, but are reluctant to seek public office positions for fear of losing their independence and freedom to take proactive action without political influence.
It will take much hard work and a long time to achieve the behavioral change women in Iraq hope to see in their home country. But they remain hopeful that such achievement is not far-fetched.
