Women’s rights and the new Iraqi constitution

This Editorial in the Washington Post examines women’s rights in Iraq. It says that “What Westerners think of as fundamental rights for women -- to own money and property and to work outside the house -- can be established only if the constitution guarantees all Iraqis the right to religious freedom. But if the constitution establishes an extreme form of sharia law, either directly or by implication, then clerics will be able to set the rules not only for women but eventually for everyone, men and women, in Iraq's Christian, Kurdish and secular communities. Any clause or formula that enables unelected clerics to veto laws passed by the elected legislature will, over time, erode whatever fragile democracy is in place at the time the constitution takes effect.”