Let’s not forget

The Hindu, Sunday Magazine, April 6, 2008

The Other Half

Reams have been written in recent weeks about the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war. A war without justification. A war that has proved costly beyond measure. A war that is a living testimony that proves yet again that you cannot invent democracy and that you cannot impose peace through the use of force.

We know that more than 4,000 American soldiers have been killed, we know that George Bush is now one of the most unpopular presidents in the last months of his presidency principally because of the strong anti-war sentiment in his country.
But hidden behind all the analysis about this unjustified war and its impact on global politics, lies a hidden tragedy that is rarely reported, that of the condition of the women of Iraq. We know that war wreaks havoc on civil society. We know war hurts
the most vulnerable sections of any society the most. We also know that women often carry the biggest burden and pay the highest price for war. Yet, often their stories remain untold, their suffering unknown, their tragic faces unseen.

Iraq’s dirty secret


That is what is happening in Iraq where the impact on women is being dubbed its “dirty secret”. According to a recent survey
conducted by Women for Women International in Iraq, two thirds of the 1,500 women surveyed said that violence on women had increased in Iraq. Zainab Salbe, the CEO of Women for Women, is quoted saying: “It has been five years since the American
invasion of Iraq and while the mistakes made then continue to accumulate still, no one has stopped to listen to what this critical mass of the population, women, have to say about solving the problems.” Even if Iraqi women wanted to have a say — and they certainly do — would anyone listen to them? From a country where women were prominent in professions like medicine, engineering, academia and in government, Iraqi women today are sequestered in their homes, forbidden by various sects from working in various professions. According to the Women for Women International report, “Stronger women, stronger nations: 2008 Iraq report”, 76.2 per cent of the women surveyed said that girls in their
families were not allowed to attend school. Over 70 per cent said their families could not earn enough to meet their basic needs and 68 per cent said women were having difficulty finding jobs. Over 67 per cent said that their ability to walk on the street as they pleased had become worse since the US invasion. Less than a third of the women surveyed were optimistic about the future as opposed to almost two thirds in an earlier survey.

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