One of the less well publicised sticking points in the Iraqi draft constitution is the of treatment of women in the newly-fledged democracy. Last week thousands of Iraqi women risked their lives by protesting against the constitution in Baghdad's Al-Firdaws Square, yet "the international press, busy reporting the continuing violence of the insurgency, failed to cover this event and it got little publicity within Iraq," wrote Margaret Owen - head of Widows for Peace through Democracy and a member of the UK Bar Human Rights Committee - in the Guardian.
As John F Cullinan points out in the National Review, women's rights are an especially pressing concern "in a state with a clear female majority (perhaps as much as 58%), thanks to massive casualties in Saddam's lost wars of aggression and internal genocide".
The crux of the problem for Iraqi women's groups and US officials is article six of the draft document, as published in the Iraqi newspaper Al-Sabah and translated on the Niqash online community in Iraq. It reads:
The state guarantees the fundamental rights of women and their equality with men, in all fields, according to the provisions of Islamic sharia, and assists them to reconcile duties towards family and work in society.
Yanar Mohammed, head of the group Women's Freedom in Iraq, argues that this "leaves women vulnerable to all inequalities and social hostility in addition to designating females as second rate citizens or semi-humans". She is calling on people to write open letters to the US, its allies and the UN "Remind[ing] them that women's rights cannot be the price for a hideous democracy of racism, ethnicity, religiosity, sectarianism and misogyny."
Zainab Salbi president and CEO of Women for Women International, argues on the Huffington Post blog that the law does not have to be secular to ensure equal treatment of women:
While much of the consternation in the United States is about sharia in Iraq, it is important to remember that Islam is not inherently bad for women's rights, just as secular law is not automatically good. It is possible to use an Islamic framework to secure women's rights, as other countries like Morocco and Malaysia have.
Rand Raheem, a former Iraqi ambassador to Washington, concurs. She said at a press conference on Monday, "We are not afraid of Islamic law - we are afraid of arbitrary interpretations, which will restrict freedom".
Owen has warned that "Depriving women of their long-held rights and rendering them subservient to interpretations of Islamic law could well lead to the 'Talibanisation' of Iraq and an escalation of violence towards women who rebel."
The chairman of the drafting committee, Humam Hammoudi, has said that the constitution can be ready by the August 15 deadline, but only if party and political leaders can reach compromises. It remains to be seen whether article six will be redrafted to secure the rights of Iraqi women before it is submitted to a referendum in mid-October.
