Iraqi Women the Worse for War

Remember those photos of Iraqi women triumphantly raising freshly inked fingers for western cameras after voting in their new democracy? They were presented to the world by the U.S. government as an indication of a policy that would liberate Iraqi women and men. Well, it didn’t quite work out that way, according to Iraqi women’s rights activist Yanar Mohammed, who argues that the situation for women in her country has significantly worsened since the American invasion in 2003.

Despite his immense failings and unforgivable atrocities, Saddam Hussein ran an essentially secular government that gave women more educational, professional and social freedoms compared to the current regime. This is a source of chagrin to people like Mohammed, who detested the dictatorship but are alarmed that the future will only bring new restrictions and greater oppression for Iraq’s women under the guise of so-called ‘democracy.’