"I was training in secret at first because of the scarcity of gymnasiums for women in Babil province, south of Baghdad, and the difficulty of obtaining the father's permission to go to the hall to train to lift weights."
This is how the Iraqi young woman, Haura, describes the beginning of her sporting hobby, and she tells Al Jazeera Net that she was suffering from a loss of appetite and a lack of weight, as she weighed only 44 kg, and her height reached 1.66 meters. .
Iraqi weightlifter Oshin Mohsen won many gold medals locally and Arab (Al-Jazeera - Archive)
the end of the dream
The 26-year-old Hawraa completes how her dream ended with her father's refusal to follow her, through the means of communication, to professionals and champions of weightlifting, and he taught her everything related to the matter. She even studied human muscles, how to activate them, and ways to take care of them.
She said that her father prevented her from going to the gym or training on the roof of the house, and reprimanded her by saying, "You look like men and he will be afraid of those who want to propose to you."
Similar to Hawra’s story, the story of Sindyan Reda, who obtained a bachelor’s degree in sports from the University of Basra in the south of the country, ended in a province where women’s sports halls abound.
Oaks tried to specialize in the long jump, but her dreams were shattered after her engagement to a relative who refused to practice this sport, and she told Al Jazeera Net that her mother convinced her father to support the position of her fiancé, who refused to let his future wife be preoccupied with illusions that might lead her to jumping or running in front of a crowd of men.
The suffering of the Iraqi in a plastic exhibition that reflects the obstacles that prevent her from practicing her hobbies (Al-Jazeera)
many obstacles
In the capital, Baghdad, obstacles were also present, as wrestling champion Rasha Saddam Hatem believes that family and social restrictions are a major obstacle to women's sports.
Rasha, born in 1989, works as a fitness and fitness trainer, martial arts and self-defense, as well as wrestling. She holds an international certificate of training and arbitration in martial arts (Baghot) and is the Iraqi and Arab champion in wrestling and physical strength.
She spoke to Al Jazeera Net about the nature of women's sports in Iraq, saying that "families' weak support for their daughters is the main obstacle, in addition to social restrictions, where some still look at sportswomen with suspicion and vulgarity, especially with the lack of suitable places for training and the society's view of women and that they were created to manage family and home affairs only." ".
She points out that despite these obstacles, there are many sports in football, tennis, volleyball, basketball, badminton, ballet and "gymnastics", in addition to scouting, arena and field, and others inside and outside sports colleges.
Name: Rasha Saddam Hatem
Born: 1989
Fitness, fitness and crossfit
trainer Martial arts
trainer Physical strength
trainer Wrestling
trainer Self-defense trainer
Holds a certificate of physical strength and wrestling
- holds an international training and arbitration certificate in Bagot 2021
- She holds a black belt 1 Dan 2021 pic.twitter.com/2smmBVyq0d
— Iqpro.x (@IqproX) February 8, 2022
The role of the Ministry of Youth
To know the viewpoint of the Ministry of Sports and Youth, the Director of the Women's Sports Department, Anwar Tariq, tells Al Jazeera Net that there is a national strategy to advance women's sports with the aim of supporting women's health and psychological well-being and reducing the psychological pressures they are exposed to in life, and it includes sports for talented and people with disabilities, school and university sports and media education.
She points out that women in general face obstacles to their sports activities, many of which are the lack of halls and playgrounds for women and the lack of funding for the women's section's activities.
She indicated that the society's rejection of women's sports is the biggest obstacle, "and it is a deficient view," and it is one of the main reasons for the delay in the spread of women's sports in Iraq, despite the positive developments it has recently achieved.
In addition, the players are subjected to a lot of bullying and taunts, in addition to the fact that some people judge sports according to the sex of the person, meaning that some sports are for men and others are for women, Anwar Tariq adds.