XOFRAN EL-RADÎ

Baghdad- While the laws that reflect the patriarchal mentality in Iraq make women’s lives more difficult because they support men. Women, who have children and ask for a divorce for the violence they face, are left alone in the country. In Iraq, where women are deprived of their right to education, cannot choose their spouse, and have no inheritance rights, the laws support men. But Lina Eli is one of the Iraqi women struggling for her freedom.

31-year-old Lina Eli is the mother of two. She chose to struggle for her children’s future; she wants a divorce. Family and society have a great influence on girls, Lina Eli said, “Iraqi laws don’t protect women. There is a legal gap in Iraqi laws. It forces women to bow down. The laws that should supposedly protect women force the women to listen to abusive men.”

“The laws actually do not grant women to get a divorce”

Lina Eli talked about her marriage, “During seven years of my marriage, I was like a birth-giving machine. I was with a man, who tried to take away all my rights and force me to accept his insults. I couldn’t live with a man, who thinks I was a birth-giving machine. I chose to divorce because I couldn’t have a dishonorable life anymore.” Lina Eli also talked about the laws on women’s right to divorce in Iraq, “The laws do not respect women’s decisions and they actually do not grant women to get a divorce.”

Social pressure

Lina Eli’s family always supported her decision. She wants to build a better life for her children. “But there are hundreds of thousands of women, who want a divorce but cannot due to social and family pressure.”

Call on women who have been subjected to violence

Lina Eli said, “There is no law protecting us from our husbands, fathers, and brothers,” and she called on women who have been subjected to violence by their husbands; “They should struggle for themselves and for their children. They should educate and improve themselves.”