A testimony to the world of Iraqi women. Ranging from executives to illiterate housewives, the women speak with frankness of sex and marriage, physical and mental violence, the fear of scandal and their indoctrination into the ideology of honour and shame. On the basis of an in-depth study conducted over several years, the author builds a picture of Iraqi women's lives from birth to old age. Although the book's main focus is on Iraq, there are cross-cultural comparisons between Third World women and women in Western societies.