Living in Iraq is very difficult today, but working in politics in Iraq is even more difficult.  Add the fact that you’re a woman and it must be pretty impossible to survive, right?  Wrong. 

I spoke with Iraqi City Councilwoman Ramla Hameed, 44, from Kirkuk, and found that strong women are making big waves throughout the country.  In fact, political equality among women seems stronger in Iraq than it is in the United States.

“One of every three members in the national Council of Representatives is a woman,” Hameed said.

In the United States, women make up only 16 percent of Congress. 

The city of Kirkuk's political structure is no different.  Hameed is part of the Arab Party, the smallest party in the north under the Turkmen Party and the massive Kurdish Party.  She said nine women have city council seats in the Kurdish Party, two in the Turkmen Party and two in her own party.  That means 13 out of 40 total seats (again, 33 percent) are women representatives. 

“We are just like men, with the same responsibilities and political equality,” Hameed said.

Hameed’s brother said she has always been a leader in the community.  She is the head of her own engineering firm, and she is leading the fight to give the Arab Party more of a say in decisions to export Kirkuk’s oil--a very heated quarrel that has been discussed across the globe.
 
Hameed admits that it is hard to be an Arab Party member in the predominantly Kurdish north, but she is proud of her role in government and says the current political struggles are “what democracy is all about.”
 
When it comes to America's presence, she said she supports U.S. involvement in Iraq.

“Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida are terrorists that needed to get out of our peace-seeking nation,” she said.  “We are governing ourselves normally in the cities.  Our political decisions are respected.”

Hameed also said she believes total peace will soon befall her country.

“Everywhere peace is overcoming violence. It is very safe in my town,” she said as she offered me to come visit Kirkuk and stay at her home.

When asked about future elections, she said she will definitely be running for re-election and possibly even a national position in government.

“I would seek a higher office if the people I work for led me to do so,” she said.  “And the fact that I am a woman would not hinder people from voting for me in my opinion.”

While Americans claim freedom and equality, Hameed said the U.S. needs to overcome its bias against women in politics as seen in the current election.

“I don’t know what the big deal is about Hillary Clinton being a woman.  Choose the best candidate no matter if she is male or female, that’s what we say,” she said.

With 16 percent of Congress and 33 percent of Iraq's government represented by women, it’s clear that both our countries have a long way to go before we reach political parity.  And after talking with this Iraqi leader, it seems that the U.S. media's focus on gender and race this election might be making Americans look obsessed with these differences rather than the candidate's political views. 

The entire world is watching, and judging, our nation’s political achievements and our political shortcomings.  Let's continue to focus on the issues and make America's democratic values something that can inspire other countries.