"We are children of this nation": the women of Iraq's protests

Women are playing key roles at the forefront of the protests which have swept across the nation. In Baghdad, Rudaw spoke to several women, many of them students, who have volunteered their time to care for both the wounded and their city. 

One protester has been tending to the injured from dawn until dusk, but refused to speak to the media. Others have been ferrying food to protesters and cleaning up the streets. Many were fearful of how their families would react. 

“We are the children of this nation,” one woman told Rudaw. “We carry the responsibility to support them [the male protesters],” she added. Others have decorated the streets of Baghdad with revolutionary art and tributes to the fallen. 

"We have painted the murals black as a reminder of our many martyrs," a protester told Rudaw's Halkawt Aziz. Rudaw English was informed via Whatsapp that one protester, Dr Saba al-Mahadawi, was kidnapped in Baghdad on November 2. Her fate remains unknown. 

More than 250 people are said to have died since initial demonstrations began on October 1, according to the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR). Initially focused on grievances over corruption, unemployment and other issues, protesters are now calling for a new government. 

by Halkawt Aziz