Dr. Akeel Abbas, Assistant Professor in the English Department at AUIS and a memeber of the EU project team, in a podcast discusses the history of iraqi feminism, and how it was origniated from 1910 until the modern day.
Funded by the EU, CGDS is producing in Kurdish, Arabic and English to promote understanding of gender issues in the region. The following is one of the podcasts produced for the project.
The encouragement of women’s rights in Iraq began in 1910 by the famous Iraqi poet Jamil Sidqi al-Zahawi. He wrote an article in “Al-Moayed” newspaper under the title “Woman & her defense”. The article became a motivation for any woman to get out of the house and take off her veil, revealing her face. The article led to a huge outcry in Baghdad since it was regarded as a call for breaking the Islamic and Arabic values and the liberation of women. As a result, Al-Zahawi was fired from the law school he worked.
Al-Zahawi, poets such as Maruf Al-Rasafi, and others called for enlightenment and liberation. The liberation they were calling for consisted of three things: 1. Removal of the veil 2. Women to attend school and get educated 3. Women to live beyond the boundaries of their houses.
Following Al-Rasafi, another important figure came who took the topic of women’s rights even deeper; was Husain al-Rahal. Al-Rahal, whose father was an officer in the Ottoman army; lived years in Germany. Living abroad aided Al-Rahal with an adaptable and open mentality. He opened the first Marxicist cell (GROUP) in Iraq. Al-Rahal called for a particular human right in regards to women that no one had ever proposed. He asked for the financial independence of women, in order for them to become active, productive, and participatory individuals of society. This issue had neither been discussed nor considered before in the country.
These three figures had few supporters because they were the first generation who had encouraged and supported women’s rights. The first generation of women’s rights supporters are usually men, as they have more access to power within society and are allowed an education. At that time, women still actively participated in this movement, although the majority of them, did not know what their rights were or how to ask for them. The first generation of women’s rights supporters often had a small group of believers and a large group of opponents. This dynamic is not only limited to the Iraqi community but also applies to other communities around the world, some of which include Western and Middle Eastern communities such as Lebanon, Syria, America, and many others.
The ideas that were held by these three men caused various conflicts. After the establishment of the Iraqi government, the encouragement of female education, led to a division of the Iraqi society into two groups. Back in the twenties, the Iraqi government opened around 36-38 schools which were only for males. The government’s call to let females join these schools resulted in a tremendous disturbance. Some civilians would attack females with stones if they saw them going to school. Although the majority of people; specifically, religious figures were against the education of women, supporters were still prevalent in the country. The conflicts between the opposing sides continued within the twentieth century and ended with the women and their supporters winning. As a result, many like Amina Al-Rahal, who was the first female to become a lawyer and to drive a car in the thirties, emerged. Additionally, multiple associations emerged especially in Baghdad to support women’s rights. Simultaneously, many Iraqi men who traveled to Syria and Lebanon, married Lebanese and Syrian females, who were more open minded and liberal than Iraqi women. These marriages encouraged men to accept the idea of women’s rights, freedom, and individuality. At that time, Iraq needed teachers, doctors, and other employees from Syria and Lebanon to work in the country. The arrival of these employees further altered the mindset of the Iraqi Society.
Credit: Summarized and translated Lubna Ghazi