What Kind of Liberation?

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After five years of war, Al-Ali (author of “Iraqi Women” 2006) and Pratt show that women are becoming the major losers in Iraq. They are struggling more than ever with food, water, sanitation and healthcare for themselves and their families. They suffer especially from rising violence and the lack of police. They are forced to stay home from schools, universities, and jobs and women’s employment is now low even by Middle East standards (whereas before it was high). Women have become victims of community honor crimes, Islamist militias, criminals (trafficking), and occupying soldiers. The spread of sectarianism has thrown up barriers to women’s rights, which have also been sold down the drain as the US caters to sectarian leaders. In fact women have often become pawns in the back-and-forth of occupation and resistance. Based on interviews with women of all walks of life (and including photographs from women of all walks of life in Iraq) and from visits to Iraq, the authors explore how women have tried to fight for their rights in women’s groups, NGOs, provincial councils and parliament, and how these fights have been frustrated. Finally the authors draw an even bigger picture to argue that so-called wars of liberation through occupation, by their very nature, invariably destroy women’s gains.