Iraqi women fear for their rights---BBC NEWS | Middle East |

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Iraqi women fear for their rights:

"Women's groups in Iraq are stepping up a campaign to try to ensure that the country's constitution does not restrict their rights.

With the approach of the 15 August deadline for completing the new constitution, the role of women in society has become a political battlefield.

It pits secular Iraqis against newly powerful religious parties who want a greater role for Islam written into the document.
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Saddam-era rights

Under Saddam Hussein, Iraq had some of the most secular legislation in the region.

But all that could change, with hardline Shia members of the national assembly pushing for the country to be named the Islamic Republic of Iraq.
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'We are worried that the interpretation of Sharia law will take us backward and that people will think that, regarding women, the era of Saddam Hussein was better,' Ms Damluji says."