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Female Attorneys Unite Across Nations By Rebecca E. Neely Female attorneys from St. Louis, Missouri and Iraq are working together to try to improve Iraq’s oppressive legal system in regards to women – not only to get them into more powerful positions within the legal system, but to protect them.
The criticisms are many — Islamic laws that allegedly protect women are by no means adequate, and laws that are in place are generally not enforced. The culture itself serves in general to defeat women from the get go, as they are more often than not treated merely as property. It’s a given that men are in charge and that domestic violence is a way of life. Jim Steitz is a St. Louis administrative law judge. He spent over a year in Iraq in conjunction with a U.S. team that worked to assist the Middle Eastern country in putting a legal system in place for a democracy in its infant stage. A portion of his job while in Iraq was to recruit attorneys to work together to build relationships with each other, and a bridge between the two legal systems. St. Louis attorney Nancy Mogab was one such recruit; she traveled to Iraq to meet with female attorneys in Kirkuk. After she returned, Mogab spoke with members of the Women Lawyers’ Association of Greater St. Louis about working with the Kirkuk attorneys to put together a similar group. The hope is that there will be strength in numbers. However, both the culture and the legal system need to change, and to work in tandem for women to see advances.
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Many barriers exist for Iraqi women to effect change, in the form of politics, religion, culture and language. But each group of women is dedicated to trying to make it work, and help the other. Washington University professor Fatemeh Keshavarz was quoted as saying in the January 31st stltoday.com article, “St. Louis attorneys help Iraqi women build a voice”: “If change appears to be anything to do with women’s rights, it’s a Western idea. So if they go for it, the thought is that it will be a loss of their Muslim identity. I highly recommend that they stay in touch with other Muslim countries. Then they would not be singled out as betraying their culture to the West.” Keshavarz is a professor of Persian and comparative literature who’s written a great deal about Muslim women and their culture. Established in 1976, the Women Lawyers’ Association of Greater St. Louis works to support and promote women attorneys in their endeavors. Common problems women in the legal profession face include inequality regarding pay, professional advancement, mentoring opportunities and life/ work balance issues.
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