The Price of Freedom: Afghan and Iraqi Women Defy Tradition
By Sharon Anderson, 11.18.04

Keeping women at home in their traditional roles may have a detrimental impact on the January elections in Iraq, by affecting voter turnout and frightening women into not running for office.

Many women are threatened or brutally murdered for working outside the home and refusing to wear the traditional, all-covering black abaya.

Manal Omar, the Iraq director for the nongovernmental organization Women for Women International, told the Washington Times that she knew of three cases in which politically active women were slain or kidnapped.

In Baghdad, a female news anchor was killed and another woman who was active on Baghdad's local governing council has disappeared.

"Many professional women have stopped working. They are being forced to stay home," Omar said.

The High Price of Freedom
Women’s rights in Iraq are still in their infancy. Dozens of women who work for coalition forces, international companies involved in the country's reconstruction effort or who are active in their local communities have been fatally shot.

In one case during the summer in southern Iraq, female workers were shot while in a bus, but the male bus driver was not attacked, according to the Washington Times.

"Women are the benchmark for where the society is going" said Zainab Salbi, head of Women for Women International. "Women are getting attacked in a way that is against centuries of tradition of how women are viewed. They traditionally were immune to violence - this is the first time that these rules are broken."

Salbi told of various incidents, including one of a friend who insisted on driving her own car, dressing in Western clothes and running her pharmacy business despite threats. She was recently fatally shot, and her Christian business partner was beheaded.

The Women of Afghanistan’s Elections
In October, Afghanistan held free elections. For the past 25 years, the people of Afghanistan have lived in terror. By the simple act of voting in a national election they chose to live in a democracy. In a remarkable voter turnout, 41 percent of the 10.5 million registered voters were women.

"This is a historical day, because it is for our future," said Nadgia, the head of women's voting for Zabul province. "This is a special day, because the women are coming to vote.

Both the elderly women and young women are voting, because this is our future - because we are selecting the president. The ladies are coming to vote, because the future belongs to us - to us and our children. This is good for Afghanistan,” Nadgia said.

Daniel Serwer, director of peace and stability operations at the U.S. Institute for Peace (USIP), said that the elections in Afghanistan set an example for Iraq.

"You can see that in Afghanistan, when women came out and voted in big numbers, it changes the mood and direction of the country," Serwer said.

Compiled from the Washington Times reporting on November 12, 2004
and Department of Defense news service between October 9-11, 2004