Blazing a trail for all women in Iraq

Saeedi, 29, (right) and Dalal Abedlamir, 24 are just two of 180 women among the 5,000 employees of the Basrah Gas Company near the southern Iraqi city of Basra. Photos: AFP

Each working morning, oil engineer Safa al-Saeedi dons a safety helmet and heads into a gas complex for another day challenging conservative prejudices by being a professional woman in Iraq.

"Society does not accept that a girl can live outside the family home," said 29-year-old Saeedi, who works in Iraq's southern oil and gas fields around Basra.