Iraqi Women Under Occupation

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Iraqi Women Under Occupation

• Nada Al-Rubaiee
• Iraqi Patriotic Alliance
• Iraqi_women_at_hotmail.com
• 0031- (0)645542498

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Iraqi women

• Pre- war status
• Post- war/ occupation status
• - Social level
• - Political level

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Pre- occupation status of Iraqi women

• 0 illiteracy
• High percentage of educated women scientists,
  university teachers and doctors
• Had right to participate in any area of public
  and political life.

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Pre- occupation status of Iraqi women

• But women were facing problems like
• Economic sanctions
• U.S. bombing
• Tribal culture
• Lack of full political freedom

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Post- war
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Status of Iraqi women on a social level

• - US bombing - Checkpoints spread all around
  the country
• Iraqi girls are kidnapped (30 girls only in
  Kerkouk according to Iraqi newspaper ) ? families
  avoid sending their daughters to schools
• Iraqi women are in jail there is an estimated
  number of 800-900 female prisoners in American
  custody

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Dangerous environment
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assaulting women at checkpoints
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US soldiers search women at checkpoints
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women are in jail because US forces suspect their
husbands of being resistance fighters
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"Surrender, we have your wife !
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800 - 900 female prisoners
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Why are Iraqi women in prison?

• The main reasons are
• For political or religious beliefs mainly
  Baathist or Islamic
• Confused accusations
• a- Funding the resistance
• b- Resistance
• c- Anti occupation meetings
• Family links with officials in the past regime
  mothers, daughters, or any relation with
  ex-Baathists

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Forms of Torture of Female Prisoners

• Held without charges
• Held in 2.5 m by 1.5 m cells
• Raped
• Forced to bear their breasts
• Forced to strip naked in front of male soldiers

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Iraqi women talk

• please destroy the prisons
• We have no water, gas, electricity and the
  invaders are humiliating us

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Iraqi women organisations inside Iraq
The Feminist American organisation RTI and
USAID support Iraqi women organisations

• Women For Women Ban Al-Sarraf (famous face of
  the Bushs re-election campaign)
• Organisation for Peace / Dates Earth
  financially supported by Alternative
  International Development centre
• Organisation for Womens freedom in Iraq (OWFI)
• Women centres around Iraq under the name
• Shelters with the aim to improve private and
  sexual freedom of Iraqi women. And to free women
  from mens repression.
• .

Supported by Iraqi Workers Communist party !!
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Democratising Iraqi women !

• .
• On the International Women Day on 8th of March
  2004, Colin Paul gave two initiatives
• Initiative for Iraqi Female democracy 10
  million dollars !
• Initiative for the American Iraqi Female
  Network 27 million dollars !

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Post warPolitical level

• Appointed by the occupation
• Based on ethnic and religious quotations

• 1- Iraqi governing council
• 2- Iraqi National congress
• 3- Election

• Election or any political process that takes
  place during the occupation is illegal

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Post warPolitical level

• Election is an illegal result of the illegal
  occupation ? women representation is irrelevant
• Women liberation has to be coupled on National
  Liberation

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Iraqi women fight hand in hand with men
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Iraqi women resistance
Nour Al-Shomary
Two women- suicide attacks
Widaad Al-Doulaimi
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Resistance is legitimate including the right to
resort to armed means
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Resistance fighters are claiming their right to
national self-determination and sovereignty
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Is confronting the illegitimate occupation by the
US and their allies.