Student shakes off threats to win miss Iraq in name of women’s rights
A 20-year-old economics student has shaken off death threats to rivals and a barrage of criticism to be crowned the first official Miss Iraq since 1972. "I want to prove that the Iraqi woman has her own existence in society, she has her rights like men," Shaima Qassem Abdulrahman told NBC News on Saturday. "I am afraid […]Henry Austin and Alexander Smith write for NBC news:
A 20-year-old economics student has shaken off death threats to rivals and a barrage of criticism to be crowned the first official Miss Iraq since 1972. "I want to prove that the Iraqi woman has her own existence in society, she has her rights like men," Shaima Qassem Abdulrahman told NBC News on Saturday. "I am afraid of nothing, because I am confident that what I am doing is not wrong."
More than 150 women applied for Miss Iraq pageant, which organizers said was a chance to "create life in Iraq" and "revive our country" after years of bloodshed and internal chaos. But a backlash saw 15 contestants drop out of the competition, according to one of the judges, Iraqi fashion designer Sinan Kamel. Reuters reported that least two of these women had received death threats.
