The participation of women in the 2019 and 2020 protests were very apparent and inspiring for many women around the world, though their participation came with a price. Women have lost their lives because of systematic killing and assassinations. Reham Yaqoub is the latest victim of the systematic assassinations that have affected activist women within the last two decades.

By Huda Mahmood

With the fall of Saddam’s dictatorship and the fall of the Iraqi state,  Iraqi women  had hoped that they would have more say over their future and more rights.   However,  since then, women’s limited rights have been taken away from them, and they have lost their fundamental rights of just being citizens. Overall though, women have refused to stay silent in light of all of the changes surrounding them. Seventeen years have passed since the collapse of the Saddam government and yet, the struggling and the suffering of Iraqi women has not changed. In fact, it’s as if the rug was pulled right from under their feet with these political changes.  The political situation in Iraq  completely turned against them because of the militias and parties affiliated with the Iranian Islamic fundamentalist government.   Iraqi women also had to suffer from the destruction by both the United States occupation and ISIS being in control of the many cities in Iraq. All of this turmoil is what contributed to the economic instability, violence, destruction and the continuous suffering of Iraqi women.

Under the new political situation in 2003 and after,  women in Iraq were now forced to wear a mandatory headcover. They lost their rights to travelling without companions.  Their safety and security was threatened by militias and political Islamists  who had more power in the government. Day after day, women continued losing their rights and this coincided with the loss of many basic services such as electricity and clean water. There was a lack of job opportunities which then increased poverty, and homelessness for women.

The 2019 uprising in Iraq has not stopped and the demand for better living conditions continues. The participation of women in these protests were very apparent and inspiring for many women around the world, though their participation came with a price. Women have lost their lives because of systematic killing and assassinations. Reham Yaqoub is the latest victim of the systematic assassinations that have affected activist women within the last two decades.  She  will certainly not be the last.

Read more from the source: Alliance of Middle Eastern and North African Socialists