A Look at Iraqi Women Essay Example for Free

A Look at Iraqi Women Essay The country of Iraq has been the venue of much turmoil and unrest. A war that began in 1980 between Iran and Iraq, which was supposed to be quick and speedy, lasted longer than expected and as a result, more males were needed for the army. More draftees meant higher mortality rates, greater costs for the military arm of the government, higher need for recruits. (Efrati, 28) All the same, the prolonged duration of the war brought about a crisis in Iraq’s economy. Factories and various companies found themselves suddenly lacking in workers as the majority of Iraq’s men were drafted to fight in the army. Women, however, being left in the country, were many and were a clear source for human resources. This led to the encouragement, by the government, of having women in Iraq take on new roles and parts to play both economically and politically. (Efrati, 28) The government came up with numerous ways to include Iraqi women in the production process of society. Economy, which was once a man’s field in Iraq, broadened to include the now strong force of women all over the country. However, this was a period of stress and turmoil. War was raging and everywhere individuals were taking on roles they never used to have. Would this change remain upon the conclusion of the war? What would these newly inducted Iraqi women have to look forward to when war between Iraq and Iran would finally come to an end? In truth, in post-war situations, women are often at the receiving end of a social backlash. When the troops come back home, roles are reestablished. The women, who were taken out of their well-carved places in society to replace the men during the war, are made to go back to the traditional gender roles they once had prior to the war. It is almost as if war has ended for the country, between Iraq and Iran, but not for its citizens as the men and women struggle to reestablish former roles. (Al-ali, 742) In present day Iraq, there is evidence of the violence and anarchy that occurs during post-war situations. Women are at the receiving end of a constant chain of abuse and aggression to a degree that is greater than even that which existed during the period of war or during the period of intervention by the military. The women are subjected to lawlessness, lack of security, abductions, sexual abuse and harassment, chaos, and even the extreme events of rape. (Al-ali, 742; Ziad, 16) These occurences may be due to the fact that the males of the society, who were once an integral part of the household of these women, are intimidated by the fact that their roles were so easily replaced and taken over. The intimidation felt by the males may have led to a lashing out at the females who, in fact, did nothing more than that which was needed and asked of them by the country during the time of war. Also, the violence and physical nature of the work they conducted for the military has carried over to bring violence even into their own homes after the war. (Al-ali, 742) This paper tries to understand and enumerate the different roles that Iraqi women play both during and after a period of war. These will be categorized into three types of roles: social, economic and political. The political role will involve any roles they have had in relation to the government and its dealings. The economic role will involve any roles Iraqi women have had to play in relation to business and finance. And the social roles will involve all other uncovered role that these women have had to play in a society that has been predominantly ruled through male hegemony. Political Role of Iraqi Women Before the rule of the infamous Saddam Hussein in Iraq, Iraqi women were known to have participated politically and some were even noted to have been activists. However, autonomous political participation of these women was cut short at the onset of the 1970s. At this time, they were encouraged to join the Baath party and to try to earn positions in the government by running for the rubber-stamp parliament. The results of these elections showed how greatly marginalized women were in the Iraqi society. In the first Baathist parliamentary elections held in 1980, only 16 women won a seat in a 250-seat Council. The results of the 1985 Baathist parliamentary elections were not all that different when 33 women candidates won seats in the Council. (Al-ali, 754) In 2003, only a scrawny 8% of the parliamentary Council were females, showing the continued decline of women participation in the political arena of Iraq. This was despite the fact that an organization called the General Federation of Iraqi Women served as the political vehicle of women in Iraq. Over 1 million Iraqi women were members of this federation and yet the political representation of women in the government of Iraq remains negligible and even questionable. (Al-ali, 754) However, Iraqi Kurdistan which gained semi-autonomy was able to become a venue wherein Iraqi women could establish civil society organizations and associations. These women soon became steeped in party politics. Although of the 20 ministers of the Kurdistan Regional government, only two were female ministers, females in Kurdistan began to be able to avail of employment in the civil service. Although political activity of women in Iraqi Kurdistan was growing and they were gaining important political roles as members of the government, their political pariticaption was often opposed and blocked off by the other male politicians. Harassment of female activists denouncing killings were often reported. Also, projects of certain women-led organizations aiming to foster a more positive social situation, especially for the female citizens, were most often met by opposition from male politicians and in most cases were shut down and discontinued due to the strength of the opposition. (Al-ali, 754) Although females were beginning to voice out and claim new positions as active movers in the political arena, their actions were unappreciated and even reviled by their male counterparts. The political roles that females played were roles that they had to fight for. These were not freely given by the society they lived in. Although during the war women were held in high esteem for the important contributions they could make to the war-torn Iraq, their roles were once again brought down to those they traditionally had once war was concluded. (Al-ali, 756-757) After the war, women were seen to be pushed further back into the background of Iraqi society. Their political roles were greater and more influential prior to the war and continued to decrease significantly as war ravaged the country and even after the war was finished. Iraqi women, although aspiring and fighting for equal political representation, are greatly marginalized in the society they so bitterly fought hard to keep alive during the period of war. (Al-ali, 756) Political research has shown, however, that greater progress can be achieved by the war-torn Iraq if women are allowed to take a more active political role. Studies of post-war countries such as Northern Ireland, Bosniz Herzegovina, Cyprus and Israel have shown that including female perspective will hasten the reconstruction progress. Women are an essential aspect of the political arena of a country and the Iraqi government has to realize this if they wish to speed up the rebuilding of their society after the war. (Al-ali, 756-757) Economic Role of Iraqi Women The onset of the Iran-Iraq war proved to be damaging to the economy of both countries. As the male citizens of both countries continued to be drafted for the drawn out war, females were the main source of labor and skill for the ongoing economic processes. During the war, females were taken out of their traditional role of reproduction to more challenging economic roles of production.