Women Trying to Improve Their Lot in Iraq

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Women Trying to Improve Their Lot in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq - For more than seven hours, speaker after speaker went up to the podium at a huge women's gathering and repeated demands for freedom, democracy and equal representation.

But no one explained how they should go about achieving those goals in an ultra-conservative society where even the most educated and liberal women dare not break taboos and question some of the more strict Islamic laws that render women half of men.

The conference was a reflection of the state of disarray that women find themselves in postwar Iraq. Dozens of women's groups have sprung up since Saddam Hussein's regime collapsed in April, but few appear to know how to seize the opportunity and make a clear set of demands as politicians draw up an interim constitution.

Time is running out as the June 30 deadline nears when the United States, their most solid supporter, transfers power to Iraqis and ends its occupation.

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Women Trying to Improve Their Lot in Iraq