The Wire

Leaks of the draft Iraqi Constitution, which is due to be presented to the National Assembly next Monday, have begun to circulate. And it appears as if women rights are under threat. Iraq’s interim constitution, also known as the Temporary Administrative Law, contained an equal protection clause guaranteeing all Iraqi citizens the equal protection of the law, as well as a provision granting Iraqi women a 25% parliamentary quota. However, the Constitutional Committee, charged with drafting Iraq’s new Constitution, has not guaranteed that these provisions will remain and is yet to comment publicly on whether any explicit protections of women’s rights will be provided under the Constitution. In an effort to ensure that women are guaranteed equality, Iraqi women along with numerous international human rights and women’s organisations have mobilised, taking to the streets in demonstration. But in the still unstable environment these women have now become targets for insurgents. This has created the perverse position that women were in fact better protected in Saddam’s dictatorial regime. The Wire’s reporter Sarah Bassiuoni spoke with Sammar Aziz from The Organisation for Women’s Freedom in Iraq about this.