half a century after the constitution granted the iraqi women equal rights they face increasing pressure on how to dress what to do with their lives and when to marry their daughters off as the effort to democratize iraq resulted in the further subjugation of its women well to discuss that i'm now joined by hama at war a prominent iraqi human rights activist and founder of the amal association madame ad words good to talk to you thank you very much for your time. thank you now first of all let me ask you about the latest political development in your country five months after the national elections the major political factions have finally managed to agree on the three main posts in the country is that a positive development as far as you're concerned. oh yes thank you you know we were waiting for this election. we have seen the results of this elections which as you know get you know eighty three women being elected this is according

to our court not to list them twenty five percent you know eighty three the top ten of women in parliament from the whole. three hundred twenty nine seats so this is one of the things that a new course of the parliamentarian life would be started but this is it needs environment needs you know the political. depends on the coalitions of the blocs. you know the women or so we are looking for women participation more than before on the political issues on the change in the country and especially on the political reform now you've been a strong advocate for a wider women's participation you contributed a lot to ensuring those parliamentary quotas that you mentioned and yet i got the impression that during those latest deliberations over who is going to be iraq's next prime minister women's weiss's didn't register or at least weren't as loud as

somebody would have expected was that the case. you know this is work one of our a problem that's we always say that women been not assigned in the high position in such an impediment or in the government so this is what we are advocating for the it's that's women should be elected as you know deputy in the of the president here of the parliament or the dead or in the prime minister or the president of the republic and you can see that woman has nominated to have said in the competition with the prime or the president of the country she'd go to the third you know one of from many from thirty there are ambitious women in our countries taking into consideration that women in iraq has been the first one to be assigned as minister when istead in nineteen fifty nine. most of these women being really always say

they contributed a lot in the political life some of them they were in the central committee of the party or in the leadership in many leadership of the parties in iran but now we have seen that with the ups's with the very weakness of this state has discretion here that the absence of this security system. we can us of the justice system the questions of the tribes you know what are called the tribes and norms and traditions has been you know over. the rule of law. the status of women becoming more and down not in the advance one that we have really worked for that let me ask you specifically about one of those challenges because i know you're very proud about this problem entry quotas but i also heard people say that they do not represent a genuine political change there are people who complain that those many of those

seats in parliament go to essentially figure have women from influential families rather than january and real grassroots political activists do you agree with that . yes because not only women even the men you know been selected through their ethnicity or their you know part is loyalty or because they are a sectarian sectarian way so women defaulted for woman issues or for women's rights for equality some of them you will find some of them in these rounds of these elected women because of the leadership of the political parties in iraq they don't believe of course rights or equality or they don't won't they feel that women are very much are in competition with them foreign says that we have seen the last election that some of these women. did that for men being as something been

attacked by is smear campaign which has affected them on sexual and on their sexual orientation on sexual you know dignity it was very this is a problem the mentality is this thin friend said among our politicians this is what we have to work very hard on changing the kid change of a stable. that's women can't participate always say voluntary actively in the life of our country now you just alluded to the male patriarchy that doesn't want to see women represented in politics and this is a very typical framing in the west but i wonder if it actually applies to iraq because if we take for example the former prime minister nuri al maliki who didn't assign a single woman to his senior cabinet he strikes me as somebody who didn't want to share power with neither women nor ma'am is that

a gender issue or perhaps and authoritarian issue it is both of them you can say about it it is a gender issue they tried to make it a dominant for them. this is what we see that the change or the reform in the political politic and you know a process that should be changed otherwise will not be a. very good future in the country so this is it depends on the political reform political reform it to me is that to get a stable or to to get to trust among you know not only in the community but among the politicians themselves you'll find that there is no trust among the political looks we have to do and that's the mission and interest of the people is this a priority for them but it is in actual fact it's not the priority you can see that people in buses are they are dying of the pollution of the war but then now on tens

of thousands of people have been you know it by this you know pollution they don't feel you know their responsibility so what is the response of one for although it's no minister of law and the prime minister nobody of them so they don't shame that's a this is the question the whole the question is this the national interest of the people there live this acute or did your no ambitions to go out of you know insurance of rule of law of dignity of the dignified. conditions of life now let me bring us back to the women's issues because i heard a number of prominent iraqi families for example young or mohammad say die of the war and the all clear patient cost iraqi women and the legal standing there every day freedoms of drowse of movement of employment would it be fair to say that those who wanted to democratize iraq have actually taken far more from the iraqi women

than they gave to them or you know we woman's organizations or a woman's movement we look at all is that women issue is the key issue for the did development in the cunt. please but for our politicians they don't think like that they always things that a one hour in show is a second that is to so forth for that so that we have seen that the absence of fear no safety for women absence of you know for say the lack of education for women all of the like for being you know assigned in the i position not only in the political but in the administrations or in the economy field so what do we owe it to find out how women these women portentious for the company development this is an issue which we have in what they are not in such way oh are politicians thinking about it or they are afraid of the and i can see now that it's

oh a woman like nadia she got this as you do woman. this no win a prize this is it is wonderful it is an explanation for all iraqi woman that despite the. kind of situation that she has been under have done as she could do to stood up and she told the truth and she could know when the prize for peace and you said that it was an inspiration for all iraqi women but i also hope that this would be an inspiration for the whole iraqi people because as far as i know she's the first iraqi in history to receive the nobel prize can i ask you though because one more question because you mentioned before that male politicians are treating women's issues as a secondary issue but when i look at the iraqi politics i get an impression sometimes that they're actually using women's issues as a bargaining chip every time they have

a difficult political situation they introduce some legislation that is designed to appeal to extremely conservative constituencies so it is as if women's issues women's freedoms is even a bargaining. in the political game do you think that's the case yes i think so it is something of that we can see to from that's we have our personnel to stack use low which was issued in one nine hundred fifty nine which is a recognized one of the advancement law in the arab region but they want to change it in the other way they want to change it to open the way for you know sectarian where of marriages so it's reason if we go to the shiny our to the sectarian ways so it means that they go off nine years can be amended or this nine years she has to be you know are you say divorced sometimes this is it is included in the draft law that they have been they have been

a present it in the parliament in two thousand and sixteen and in two thousand and fourteen we are against such laws they were against their our campaign on domestic violence low and then we have you know the last year we tried very hard to pass this law but they are preparing to put it for voting and this is what we are it is very our door that we are doing for you know getting any law for women benefit or for women you know the progress and when you speak about it they will see it this is i want to try been our tribal longs and they will says shut it down and i think this is not like that because of their interest they want to be a dominance in that you can see that we have no. polygamy in iraq was very limited to doing you know seventy's and eighty's but after that it becomes because of the absence of law and because of the opening the door for marriage of

outside the court that has is being you know encouraged well madam ad where we have to take a short break now but we will be back in just a few moments stay tuned. no you don't accept the slow drivers the oldest was ready to be a little bit it's. easy . to tell jim makes interesting. and i almost thought i would not be a lot of had a lot of them somebody doesn't know it's

a masculine you never know what's happening and whether they're shooting whether it's your cat. miss left out of the. lovable kind of sad but it. was very. thoughtful to give me a multiple i'll be just thinking of that in the i knew what i meant because that would be the oh middle class and in the most forms of all these clear when the.

when a loved one is murder it's natural to seek the death penalty for the murder i would prefer it be the death penalty just because i think that's the fair thing the right thing research shows that for every nine executions one convict is found innocent the idea that we were executing innocent people is terrifying the is just moon present and that we're even many of the times families want the death penalty to be abolished the reason we have to keep the death penalty here is because that's what murder victim's families what that's going to give them peace that's going to give them justice and we come in and say. not quite enough we've been through this this isn't the way.

welcome back to worlds apart with their practice human rights activist. madam adler before the break we were talking about the challenges that iraqi women may face when entering politics but over the last few weeks there has been a series of crimes on borders i should say of women who had little or nothing to do with politics at least three of them were associated with beauty or fashion industry do you take those murders. as isolated cases or do you think they're part of a bigger trend you know it is really big there are things that we have seen you know they tried is a message not only to kill this woman or you know to put them in death but also it is a message for all iraqi young woman do with it draw voluntary from the public lives it is not because they are in a beauty salon or their fashion is or more dead but some of them they have you know

one done for the humanitarian activities for the benefit of the poor people some one of them she was a human rights defenders she's working into civil society organizations and so this is it's a message for all iraqi women to with a drove voluntary from the public life and this woman they have really a wonderful zero to standing you know to nations who are relations in this so in this society like the more than one she has in the instagram would've than two million followers let me ask you about her specifically her name was tariff hours and she was a former miss baghdad she as you said had more than two and a half million followers on instagram and i think her murder was the most brazen of all because she was gunned down by two mourners cyclists while she was driving her wide porsche convertible in back that i don't want to sound like a victim blamer i think that it was

a huge horrible horrible crime but don't you think that driving wise porsche convertible in baghdad was almost bound to stir hatred given the level of depression in your country. yet as i say this is because of the absence or of the weakness very weak and as of this day to save a security. the justice system you can see impunity on the crimes is very common in the country the judges the justice is not taking you know really did. is for. accountability of the perpetrators of this a crimes investigations you can see no more than one week we don't know what is the investigation results and the other so i tell our viewers of him bus or she was she has been killed in the very long day and she was killed in this state also by a gunman who came and he should tell and driver so this is what is the results of

the investigations till now is not to clear from our state security and this is unfortunately because of the absence of rule of law in the country and this it's a frightening of course our women some of the business women they give up some of the media women they give up some of these seven society activists they give up their action no because they are afraid of the situation you don't know to go in to sit through it or to be at home or to be in the workplace suddenly somebody will appear and short two don't this is what is also we said it is the responsibility of our security apparatus this is it's important one thing that all these victims have in common is that they leave very active socially active lives and actively defied the so-called social norms that. insisted on by the ultra conservatives and i want to ask you specifically about these social norms is it something that is

embedded within the iraqi society or is it something new that people try to impose on your country under the venier of religious piety. i don't i don't think that they would it isn't new in the country there were maybe they're more dead word is something new but because the again she was so you know. just to speak about herself in the in the social media where she said i want to live my life as i am as i am of her is not as the other. people they want to do when chair to suppose they assaulting sexual assault she has gotten from religious mom or she even she made you know a very simple. commentary about her principle in their life in very open way she didn't you know a religious or she didn't at our house a traditions but i think this is just to execute against her and this is what is

the people to say what's happened not only the teller but the questions of so on what is happening why. yes city and a few if you are so active and she was a doctor when did it port of the security speaking that she has died because of the over doors of medicine she had to this is it is really not true things because she's a doctor and when they speak about that her husband had ex-husband has killed her it is not true that we have made our investigations and we've got that her family our. tribe and they denounce this they protest against this statement sent by the police in person or distant when we ask they said distant investigation is going to go on unfortunately in this is slow motion of the word this is given more

concern for our women and for the whole of the society now you mentioned that the investigation is going very very slow and it's. in contradiction to what the out now outgoing prime minister our body said because in the beginning he said that the investigation should have should be concluded within the forty eight hours and he also said that there was some sort of an organized plot behind all of those killings do you think that's all postering on his part or do you think the authorities indeed in sound at least you'll find out what happened and put it down to this. i don't know you know this is as i say. our state is not functioning it's not functioning as a proficient. adding to the corruptions inside this is very well. this is what's our dilema you know when you lose the security with the state security. the tribes the protections for you already

use you know other protections for the best in a life this is it is dilema for iraqis and we hope that their political reform should first to first off it is to get to know a functioning professional security has to give you know insurance for iraqis to live in peace to live you know in safety to practice their normal life in a very proper now it's impossible to have a conversation about women's rights in iraq without mentioning isis or dire the very very extreme form of sexual violence that they practice the kind of violence that i'm horrified to say that but that makes rape look like normal because these people practice things that you wouldn't even think about. in a normal society how do you explain that phenomenon that so many men in the middle

east commit those horrible atrocities against women and children why is it so widespread we would understand it if it was one psychopath but that's been dominant seems to be so broad. and violent environment for many decades and when does come you know as a terrorist you know we're going to zation and so on it was the topic the top of the when we have seen the sexual violence against women separate and when you after i always say it's not him in. security does the enemy dead dies by the way they look at the culture and the practices of dies is in the end they want you to anticipate all over the country. how. they're.

cooked additional supposed to bring us up to the killing of some it's just a. simple yes to him if you. look at the showing of the where it's going to. be you think it should be you have to see something. well the time of shipping. you up and most of the book is the work of the person you will still lose you know i don't know what the move. was the

latest news in the past. boise he writes the feel you have put into this was going to do so. through some really stupid. so what we've got to do is identify the threats that we have it's crazy on sunday shouldn't let it be an arms race based on off and spearing dramatic development only personally i'm going to resist i don't see how that strategy will be sick. very critical time to sit down and talk. the way to the united states is dangerous for most of the illegal immigrants. crossing the most. simple they want to become lost. but

many of them look for refuge in the so-called sentry sides of the drifter used to share information about undocumented migrants with federal authorities the best person as bank. was you know you don't have it up on i guess i'm in a lot of class and they want that. they have water they all choose to stay in the country with donald trump in the white house. both of you have to be about to do. a sit sit struggles of many couples. deal with the push to political both of you out there to appeal to all of the. u.f.c. lightweight champion rushes to be but never going to be other defenses title in his clash with irish superstar conor mcgregor report from his hometown.

also this hour with angry protest and disruptions of the confirmation vote brett kavanaugh is sworn in as a u.s. supreme court justice playing very deep divisions not only within the senate but the whole country confirmation is a low moment for the.