10 December 2003
Iraqi Women's Political Involvement Growing, U.S. Official Says
Women's achievements under-reported, State Dept.'s Ponticelli adds
By Kathryn McConnell
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- Iraqi women are increasingly becoming involved in political and economic decisions that will affect the future of their country, a senior State Department official says.
Women's growing involvement in political decision-making is an under-reported "good news story" of the post-Saddam Hussein Iraq, said Charlotte Ponticelli, senior coordinator for international women's issues.
Ponticelli was interviewed December 10 -- International Human Rights Day -- on the Voice of America's "Global Exchange" program. During the Hussein regime, she said, Iraqi women had a "freedom deficit."
Ponticelli said under Hussein's regime women were "double victims," losing their basic human rights, as did men, and also being victims of "honor killings." Since Hussein legalized the killing of women accused of supposedly bringing some dishonor to their families, she said, more than 4,000 women were killed in the past decade for this reason. Hussein also had a special militia that singled out and raped women: Rape was used as a weapon of intimidation, she said.
Ponticelli, who recently returned from a visit to Iraq, said that without the involvement of Iraqi women in all levels of their country's politics, the success of reconstruction would be "at risk."
As one sign that Iraqi women now are rapidly advancing in Iraq's new society, Ponticelli cited a decision in November by several women to establish a national women's council. The council, still being developed, will serve as an "umbrella" for nongovernmental organizations focusing on women, she said.
She said women are "stepping forward" to get involved in the many local councils making decisions about their communities. Most of these women are participating in politics for the first time in their lives, she said.
"Iraqi women are determined and confident," said Ponticelli. "They are very capable."
Ponticelli said it is a "myth" that Iraqi women were better off under the Hussein regime and had a higher status than women in other Arab and Muslim countries.
She said she spoke to several women who told her that, having earned college degrees, they were not allowed to practice their specialties if they didn't join the Ba'ath party. In fact, Ponticelli said, Iraqi women -- 77 percent are illiterate -- "took giant steps backwards" under Hussein.
Ponticelli said the women she spoke to expressed much hope about the future for themselves and their country. She said they also said they are "hungry" for technical skills, training and education about democracy, which the United States will help provide. They also want representation in the drafting of a national constitution, she said.
The official said she expected much of the nearly $20 billion recently approved by Congress for reconstruction in Iraq will go to programs that help women, such as improving the health care system, which received no funding from Hussein. For example, all of the country's doctors need training to bring their medical skills up to current international standards, she said.
The United States also will fund the building of nine women's centers throughout the country where women can learn about their legal rights and receive other training, she said. "They want a higher voice" in the new Iraqi society, she said.
In addition, the United States is working with the Iraqi governing council to ensure that more women are included on the national body, Ponticelli said.
Immediately after the fall of Hussein, Ponticelli said, Iraqi men "were not focused specifically" on women-related issues. But because of outreach by members of the Coalition Provisional Authority and others working with the United States, she said, "men are increasingly getting the point" that the public participation of women is vital to their country's future.
Ponticelli said Iraqi women told her security is one of their main concerns and 100 women have already joined security details. But they told her that reports of wide-scale crime are exaggerated, and they attributed what crimes are committed to Hussein's release of criminals from prisons before the war, not to lawlessness in the entire society, Ponticelli said.
These are "isolated crimes" compared to Hussein's massive killings, she said.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
This page printed from: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2003&m=December&x=20031210150925emmoccmk0.3442652&t=usinfo/wf-latest.html
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