Iraqi women ascending

Iraqi Women Vie for Votes and Taste of Power -Sam Dagher

In Basra, where until a year ago banners warned women that they would be shot if they wore too much makeup or ventured out of their homes without a veil, a female candidate, Ibtihal Abdul-Rahman, put up posters of herself last month.

Encouraged by security improvements throughout the country, thousands of women are running for council seats in the provincial elections. Of the estimated 14,400 candidates, close to 4,000 are women. Some female candidates have had their posters splattered with mud, defaced with beards or torn up...
[New York Times]