Women's Rights In Iraq

For a short period, Iraq was under the rule of Abd al-Karim Qasim who “implemented the progressive Personal Status Code in 1959: the code granted women equal inheritance rights, worked against polygamy and unilateral divorce, and made women’s consent to marriage a necessity” (Pollard 354). Iraqi women were in the forefront of the nationalist movement for independence hoping that by participating in the state’s independence, women would be granted equal rights during the process of state building. Their dream came true “as the Baath consolidated its control to Iraq after 1963, the state granted women full citizenship rights and promised them full political participation as members of the party” (Pollard 354). Women in Iraq continued to fight
It wasn’t until 1972 when the state issued Law 39 “which signaled that woman’s individual interests were not at the forefront of the General Federation’s mission, rather, the law listed the Arab nation’s struggles against imperialism and subordinating women’s interests in favor of Baathist agendas” (Pollard 355). Under Saddam Hussein’s rule, women were involved in the political system to the extent permitted but ultimately, Hussein was the only one with real power. The worst part about this is that “Hussein could nullify any law passed in Iraq and frequently abused women using rape and torture to extract information from male dissidents” (Beitler and Martinez
So in order to actually learn about women of the Middle East, one must have to navigate by understanding the practices of women who inhabit the Middle East while trying to eliminate any misconception about them. One stereotype made regarding Middle Eastern women was the harems which are part of a house designated for women only. After having a clear mind disregarding the stereotypes, one can learn about how women benefited from its state reforms in Egypt and in Iraq. Women in both of the countries benefited through education and political means but the women in Iraq suffered under the rule of Saddam Hussein. Leaders would build their nation through women and although after the reforms were taken away and some women got punished, women still benefited heavily which changed the way people view the Middle