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CNN Live At Daybreak
Many Iraqi Women Hoping New Iraq Will Mean Equality
Aired January 12, 2004 - 05:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Many Iraqi women are hoping the new Iraq will mean equality for them.
CNN's Denise Belgrave reports on efforts to improve conditions for women.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ameljasan (ph)!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ameljasan!
DENISE BELGRAVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At this makeshift squatters camp in Baghdad, Sawsan Salim hands out medicine and supplies to hundreds of homeless women and children. This woman's husband left her for another wife.
AMAD (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): He doesn't take care of me. He took care of the other woman and raised a big family with her. I have three sons and this girl. BELGRAVE: Despite her hardships, Amad's (ph) hopeful that Iraq's new government will work to ease her burden.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: God willing, now we are dependent on god and on the government. We didn't get anything from the previous regime. BELGRAVE: Sawsan's goal is to help women gain equal treatment under the law. She's a passionate member of the Organization for Women's Freedom in Iraq, a group she says has more than 400 members in Baghdad alone.
SAWSAN SALIM, WOMEN'S RIGHTS ACTIVIST: My hope is I see, you know, one day the women are equal to man, they have their full rights, equality and I don't see to see the women being threatened or no killing or no crime or to have domestic violence. BELGRAVE: The organization recently held a press conference to protest the closing of their office in Kirkuk. The empty seats tell the story. They're an indication of how little attention women's issues get in Iraq, and a very real lack of government support.
SALIM: They always give an excuse and they always say we have our culture and tradition and the women should respect. That's a kind of argue between us and them. BELGRAVE: In Saddam Hussein's Iraq, laws protecting the rights of women were some of the most comprehensive in the region, but they were never enforced. For now, Iraqi women are on their own when it comes to obtaining equal rights for themselves and, by extension, their families.
(on camera): The future of many of these children will depend, in large part, on whether their mothers are able to exercise their rights in the new Iraq. As Sawsan said, there's a lot of work to be done here.
Denise Belgrave, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: You can keep up with the latest in Iraq on our Web site. It's easy. Log on to cnn.com, AOL keyword: CNN.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 12, 2004 - 05:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Many Iraqi women are hoping the new Iraq will mean equality for them.
CNN's Denise Belgrave reports on efforts to improve conditions for women.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ameljasan (ph)!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ameljasan!
DENISE BELGRAVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At this makeshift squatters camp in Baghdad, Sawsan Salim hands out medicine and supplies to hundreds of homeless women and children. This woman's husband left her for another wife.
AMAD (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): He doesn't take care of me. He took care of the other woman and raised a big family with her. I have three sons and this girl. BELGRAVE: Despite her hardships, Amad's (ph) hopeful that Iraq's new government will work to ease her burden.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: God willing, now we are dependent on god and on the government. We didn't get anything from the previous regime. BELGRAVE: Sawsan's goal is to help women gain equal treatment under the law. She's a passionate member of the Organization for Women's Freedom in Iraq, a group she says has more than 400 members in Baghdad alone.
SAWSAN SALIM, WOMEN'S RIGHTS ACTIVIST: My hope is I see, you know, one day the women are equal to man, they have their full rights, equality and I don't see to see the women being threatened or no killing or no crime or to have domestic violence. BELGRAVE: The organization recently held a press conference to protest the closing of their office in Kirkuk. The empty seats tell the story. They're an indication of how little attention women's issues get in Iraq, and a very real lack of government support.
SALIM: They always give an excuse and they always say we have our culture and tradition and the women should respect. That's a kind of argue between us and them. BELGRAVE: In Saddam Hussein's Iraq, laws protecting the rights of women were some of the most comprehensive in the region, but they were never enforced. For now, Iraqi women are on their own when it comes to obtaining equal rights for themselves and, by extension, their families.
(on camera): The future of many of these children will depend, in large part, on whether their mothers are able to exercise their rights in the new Iraq. As Sawsan said, there's a lot of work to be done here.
Denise Belgrave, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: You can keep up with the latest in Iraq on our Web site. It's easy. Log on to cnn.com, AOL keyword: CNN.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
