THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE General Federation of Iraqi Women (GFIW)*
I - The General Federation of Iraqi Women (GFIW) was established on March 4, 1969, as a popular democratic organization representing Iraq's women as a whole irrespective of race, language, social background or religion. The GFIW, as its law stresses, is an indivisible part of the progressive movement of women in the Arab homeland and an extension of the international contemporary democratic emancipation movement of women.
The Federation was established after the July 17-30, 1968 Revolution led by the Arab Baath Socialist Party on the basis of the Party's belief in the role played by women in the process of social transformation.
The Party's constitution emphasizes that the "Arab woman shall enjoy all the citizenship's rights" and that "the Party shall struggle for raising the woman's standard in order to become worthy of enjoying these rights."
Although the Federation was established in 1969, it was the outcome of a continuous struggle by Iraqi women against the defunct royal regime and the dictatorial and reactionary regimes which followed it. These regimes imposed on Iraq an atmosphere of terror and oppression and attempted to isolate it from the Arab revolutionary movement and its progressive march.
The first woman organization of the Arab Baath Socialist
Party was formed in 1954. It played a role in the national demonstrations and in inflaming the spirit of enthusiasm in the people's masses and in courageously confronting the puppet royal regime, revealing its stands which were contradictory to the interests of the people and the Arab nation.
The role of that organization was significantly demonstrated in the struggle of the Party against the tripartite aggression on Egypt in 1956. The Baathist women faced imprisonment and discharge from their jobs, schools and universities. The Iraqi woman formed in her courageous stands a basic part of the progressive revolutionary tide of the Iraqi people who persisted in rejecting the defunct royal regime's attempts to isolate Iraq from the Arab nation and the march of the revolutionary movement in the Arab homeland and the world.
After the outbreak of July 14.1958 Revolution, the Baathist women started to work openly under the name of "The Republic's Women's Organization". The organization endeavored to strengthen the national unity, protect the revolution and assist in eliminating aspects of backwardness inherited from the former regimes. But the revolution started to deviate, while still in its first year, from its real aims, and all sorts of dictatorial acts and oppression were practiced.
The regime adopted regional trends in a manner that did not meet with the aims of the Arab nation in achieving unity and rejecting all aspects of fragmentation and division. Then a campaign of terror and imprisonment was launched against the citizens, the real beneficiaries of the revolution.
The Republic's Women Organization and its members then faced campaigns of terror and harassment. Thus, the Organization was forced to return to underground work. It endeavored to uncover the deviation of the authorities from the revolution's aims and reveal its anti-democratic practices against citizens. It participated in the demonstrations, protests, strikes and sit-ins aimed at overthrowing the regime. The Baathist women played an important role in paving the way for February 8, 1963 Revolution led by the Arab Baath.
II - THE FEDERATION'S GOALS:
The GFIW endeavours to achieve involvement of the Iraqi woman in the process of construction within a progressive, revolutionary humane perspective.
The Federation's Law lists the following tasks of the Federation:
1 - Preparing and mobilizing the Iraqi woman to undertake her effective role in the Arab nation's battle, raising her status, ensuring her enjoying equal rights with man in all fields, backing of the family and care for childhood and motherhood.
2 - Promoting bonds of sisterhood among Arab women, serious participation in the Arab revolutionary movement aimed at liberating Palestine and other Arab occupied lands and overcoming all forms of imperialist or Zionist presence throughout the Arab homeland.
3 - Supporting the revolutionary movements aimed at defeating colonialism, world imperialism and reactionary forces and all forms of aggression stressing the peoples' rights to freedom, self-determination and consolidating bases of just international peace.
4 – Achieving the best forms of solidarity with the progressive and friendly women organizations in the World and effective participation in their activities in a manner that is consistent with the Federation's targets.
5 - Fighting against Zionist and imperialist activities, segregation, class exploitation and persecution.
* Al-Moharer will continue to publish mini series of articles from a pamphlet presented to the 8th Conference of the Women’s International Democratic Federation Held in Prague October 1981. The situation of the Iraqi women in Iraq reached the lowest level under the Bush Democracy. Women lost all the progress that they achieved under the Baath regime. Women do not dare to go to the streets alone any time. They do not dare to walk the streets without wearing the conservative dresses imposed upon them by the Bush-Khomeini code of the reactionary rulers that are terrorizing Iraq under the name of ‘Democracy and progress." They have to be accompanied by male member of the family Education and profession are not necessary for women because women are "inferior’ according to the new laws dictated upon the Iraqis by the tyrants of the "New Middle East". According to the Bush constitution a woman equal one quarter of a man, Bush said Iraqi women will have 25% representation in the new Iraq".