From: Karen Rand Smigrodzki (karen@smigrodzki.org)
Date: Sat Apr 12 2003 - 02:15:40 MDT
----- Original Message -----
From: "Damien Sullivan" <phoenix@ugcs.caltech.edu>
To: <extropians@extropy.org>
Sent: Saturday, April 12, 2003 1:22 AM
Subject: Re: [IRAQ] Liberty, Women, Islam, Gov't Re: Predictable
catastrophes of human stupidity
> > experiences of being both an American woman with all the freedom that
> > entails and a woman who lived as a Muslim woman, at times complete with
> > hijab, among Arab Muslims for years. This experience, which I claim, is
what
> > informs my view when I say that the women of Iraq, in spite of being
more
> > liberated that their Saudi counterparts, are still entitled to the label
> > "un-liberated". It doesn't take a government to oppress women. The
>
> Well, I don't know that much about the women of Iraq; most comes from a
> mid-1990s Economist article, on how Iraq was becoming more religious under
> sanctions, with Baghdad women who'd been proud of their Western hairstyles
> turning to the veil. And Iraqi suffrage is universal, as is Iran's. Not
> terribly meaningful under the Baath party, but they got their fake vote
just
> like everyone else... only 45% female literacy in Iraq though, according
to
> the CIA (vs. 66% in Iran.) So, I don't know. I'd just caution you
against
> assuming the Arab Muslims of Iraq are the same as the Arab Muslims
elsewhere.
>
^^^^^^^ Here is an interesting quote supporting my position:
Murder. In 1990, Saddam Hussein introduced Article 111 into the Iraqi Penal
Code in a calculated effort to strengthen tribal support for his regime.
This law exempts men who kill their female relatives in defense of their
family's honor from prosecution and punishment. The UN Special Rapporteur on
Violence Against Women reported that more than 4,000 women have been victims
of so-called "honor killings" since Article 111 went into effect. (UN
Commission on Human Rights, Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence
Against Women, January 2002)
http://www.state.gov/g/wi/rls/18877.htm
--karen
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