A Step Forward

RE: Iraqi Women Are Seeking Greater Political Influence (2/16/10)
To the Editor:
I found the article about women’s rights in Iraqi politics by John Leland and Riyadh Mohammed to be enlightening and hopeful. Throughout much of his book, Michael Muhammad Knight laments the state of women’s rights in Islamic countries, discussing gender segregated mosques and even some holy places that women are not allowed to enter. So it is promising to see women starting to take a bigger role in the Iraqi government. However, even though the Iraqi Constitution requires that 25% of seats in parliament go to women, I would still like to see some serious measures taken to combat some of the injustices mentioned in the article, like women not being allowed into meetings or forced into soft leadership positions. Women, even women that have been hidden away for many years, still have a voice and deserve to have their voice heard in government. Iraqis have taken the first steps on the road to gender equality, but they still have many hurdles ahead of them.