Lauren Auton, 11/13/09, 4:42 PMOn Monday, fifty women became the first ever graduates of Iraq's police officer training academy. These fifty women joined 1050 men to make up their graduating class. In Iraq, the job of an officer in the national police force is among the highest paying available there. And although this is a good step up for women in the country there, the fifty women who just graduated, still had to face many challenges. The women were subject to the same standards as the men, but were trained and studied separately from them. Also, the women were not provided housing at the academy like the men were. The women were forced to commute daily, with some women having to leave their houses as early as four in the morning and not returning until after dark.
While it is good that progress is being made for women in Iraq, I would like to see there be more equality. The number of female graduates does not even compare to the number of males who graduated. The separation in training and the lack of housing for women at the academy would be good things to address too. But still, it is a victory for women not just in Iraq, but everywhere and hopefully other countries will follow suit. Also on the positive side, there are supposed to be about one-hundred female graduates from the police officer training academy in Iraq next year.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/world/middleeast/10iraq.html?_r=1
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