Women in Iraq have traditionally not suffered the same type of gender repression found in some other societies in the region. Earlier laws ensured education for girls, family rights (such as the rights to divorce and to own property), and the right to serve in the government and in security forces. As a result, some Iraqi women, particularly those from Baghdad and other urban areas, made significant professional gains in areas such as law, medicine, and the arts. As in many countries, the gains were not equally shared with rural areas, which have consistently lacked uniform access to basic rights such as schooling and medical care.

The repression of Saddam Hussein’s regime, and many of the events that took place during it, including the Iran/Iraq War, the chemical attack on the Kurds in Halabja, the Gulf War, and thirteen years of UN sanctions, took a severe toll on the entire Iraqi population. The 1990s brought the increased pressure of economic decline with an impact on the economic and social rights of women. Many women lost their jobs. They could not travel outside of the country without a male relative as an escort; rapists could escape punishment for their crime by marrying their victims; and a law was introduced exempting men who killed their female relatives in the name of the family’s honor, from prosecution and punishment.

Although the end of the Hussein regime has brought great relief to many women, insecurity and lawlessness in the aftermath of the U.S.-led invasion have brought an increase in crimes and violence against women including rape, honor killing, and kidnapping.

Women’s on-going involvement in the reconstruction of Iraq is critical as the country struggles to move towards stability. Over the past year, there have been numerous organized efforts to promote capacity building of Iraqi women’s nongovernmental organizations, while also ensuring women’s empowerment in economic and political arenas on a grassroots level.