Questions and Answers from Iraqi Women

This week, the New York Times Baghdad Bureau Blog has begun posting answers to questions for Iraqi women submitted by Times readers. The first post of the series includes questions about everyday life in Iraq since the US troops arrived. Daily worries for the women interviewed include security, the lack of electricity, and raising children in a society facing huge cultural changes. The way women are treated by U.S. troops and government officials is also a concern:

As we talked on a busy street corner, Ms. Abbas began to list the various ways that women are not respected in Iraq today. “They are searching us in an unreasonable way,” Ms. Abbas said. Women are shouted at in government offices and forced to pay bribes, she added. Finally, my interpreter asked, “Don’t you feel any freedom now?” Ms. Abbas answered: “What is the meaning of freedom? There is no security!”

As the week progresses, the Baghdad Bureau Blog will be posting answers to questions about a variety of issues. You can still submit questions for Iraqi women in the comments section of each new Baghdad Bureau post. Also, for more about the Baghdad Bureau Blog, you can read our previous post about it here.