Female protester joins hundred of Iraqi men demanding better living conditions

[News_Editor]

Female protester joins hundred of Iraqi men demanding better living conditions

2011-03-06 00:54:41 GMT+7 (ICT)

NASSERIYA, IRAQ (BNO NEWS) -- One female protester joined on Friday hundreds of men calling for better services and living conditions in the Iraqi city of al-Nasseriya, Aswat al-Iraq news agency reported.

Human rights activist, Qaysi, was the only woman in the demonstrations that also call for an end to corruption and more job opportunities. She called for eradicating women's illiteracy and providing jobs for them, amidst absence of any women.

"I protest with the others here to support their legitimate demands that are no longer confined to local boundaries but rather became national," Shazha al-Qaysi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

"I have raised the slogans demanding the construction of and subsidy for schools to eradicate illiteracy because we are suffering a high rate of illiteracy among women," she added.

Her participation in the marches for the second week in a row was a meager representation of women in the city. Qaysi criticized women's absence in the protests since women are more than men in Nasseriya's community, according to official statistics.

Razzaq Obeid, the director of the rights activist Tammuz Organization office, one of the organizers of the marchers, also regretted the absence of women, adding that this imbalance is part of the general situation that denies women's rights.

Last December, Iraqi women lawmakers protested the lack of female representation in the recently formed government. Women make up a quarter of the 325-seat Parliament but were given only two ministries in the 44-member Cabinet that was approved after a nine-month delay.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-03-06

[WarpSpeed]

Brave woman, I fear her days may be numbered ...

Edited March 5, 2011 by WarpSpeed

[onnut]

I'm thinking the same! I hope more will follow and support her. And they men take care of her.