Edward Erickson

Foreign Correspondent

IRAQ – One of the more exciting things to emerge from the new Iraqi constitution was a firm commitment to the idea of women’s rights. In theory, and now firmly embedded in the constitution, Iraqi women enjoy the full spectrum of rights that Iraqi men enjoy.

By the law of the land, Iraqi women should be included, minimally at least, in all levels of the Iraqi government. I work in the Ministry of Defense, which is the largest Iraqi government agency, and I have been watching the dynamics of this on-going process of almost a year now. Unsurprisingly, it's not going well.

There a number of women employed by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, but none serves in any position higher than a mid-grade civil service position. If I were to put a U.S. face on things, Iraqi women do not seem to get much higher than about GS-12 level.

Moreover, the women whom I observe in my training center remain constrained by pre-existing Islamic mores of Iraqi culture. All wear headscarves to work, although some take them off here in our building. They cannot be alone in a room with a male without having the door remain open. As instructors, they have no rights to course ownership, i.e.: They must have everything checked by their male superior. They are marginalized by their absence from all key decision committees. On holidays, they are sent home a day early because the director feels that they have family obligations to perform (such as cooking food and cleaning). And, this is happening in a center that is "stuffed" with Iraqis who have lived in the West!

We actually teach several women's right courses in my building and we even have a highly-educated Iraqi women's rights advocate and instructor here as well. Moreover, the status of women's rights training is a high visibility agenda item on the Minister of Defense's list of important projects.