When Saddam Hussein was in power, Iraq had one of the highest proportions of women driving in the Middle East. After the American invasion, bad traffic, convoys, and insurgent attacks are keeping women out of the driver's seats. However, one woman continues driving a van full of children to school. She has been doing it for 28 years and is very poopular in her neighborhood.
She does not wear a head scarf, except when she goes to get gas for her car. One time she forgot her head scarf and the men at the station said she better have it next time she came. Her family tells her it is too dangerous not to wear it. Her family also wants to stop driving because of the danger, but she refuses.
Many women who have stopped driving miss the independence and going out. They use to be able to go anywhere, but now they are afraid to leave their house. Insurgents stop women in the street and tell them the Koran forbids women to drive. Sometimes, they hand out leaflets and brochures explaining why women shouldn't be driving. Women are afraid to drive because they might get shot or harrassed while stopped at a red light.
Has the US invasion of Iraq made life worse for Iraqi women?
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88091798
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