Iraqi women in Media.

After the collapse of the regime we have witnessed the absence of women in every aspect of life in Iraq. There are many reasons for that which has been already highlighted by my friend Nadia Mahmood.

I would like to draw your attention to the role of western media in particular the British media, who have shown little interest in the situation of women and their absence.  Some journalists wrote things here and there, but the actual reasons behind women’s problems in Iraq were never highlighted and the views of secular, progressive Iraqi women have not been represented fully in the media.  Journalists tended to concentrate mainly on the Shia male crowds who were delivering religious demonstrations and protests in the streets.  Instant reports were regularly shown on TV about this, but there were no reports about women - who constitute more than 55% of the Iraqi population and who have become victims of both the U.S occupation and the emergence of Islamic groups. 

Sometimes the media has reflected views of particular women and generalised them, which gives a wrong impression of Iraqi women to their Western viewers.   From these minority views, Westerners could assume that it is our culture, as Iraqi women, to be veiled and to only wear black.  But actually the ‘hijab’ is not a cultural dress code - it is an imposed Islamic dress code.

Inside and outside Iraq there are many women who are very secular and progressive – who are struggling for recognition of their equal rights in Iraq – and for non-religious, secular state in Iraq.

The voice of these women is now represented in our Iraqi Women’s Rights Coalition’s Newspaper called EQUAL RIGHTS NOW!  Which reflects the daily reality faced by Iraqi women.

So for our voices to be heard widely and influence the appalling situation created for women in Iraq, we need help and support from every individual and group - to help women to achieve recognition of their unconditional equal rights.