Iraqi women boxers aim sucker punch at gender taboos

Iraqi boxer Bushra al-Hajjar jumps into the ring, gloves raised to eye level, and strikes out at her sparring partner.

Her bigger struggle, though, is to deliver a blow against social taboos.

In Iraq's Shiite Muslim holy city of Najaf, the sight of a women's boxing hall is unusual but, like others here, the 35-year-old boxing instructor is fighting deeply-ingrained taboos.

"At home, I have a full training room, with mats and a punching bag," said the mother of two, who also practises karate.

Hajjar won gold in the 70 kilogram-class at a boxing tournament in the capital Baghdad in December.

"My family and friends are very supportive, they're very happy with the level I've reached," she said, a blue head scarf pulled tightly over her hair.

Twice a week, she trains at a private university in Najaf, 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of Baghdad, where she also teaches sports.

In overwhelmingly conservative Iraq, and particularly in Najaf, Hajjar acknowledges her adventure has raised eyebrows.

"We've come across many difficulties," she said. "We're a conservative society that has difficulty accepting these kinds of things."

She recalls the protests when training facilities first opened for women, but said "today, there are many halls".

In the past, Iraq had a proud tradition of women in sports, especially in the 1970s and 1980s.

Whether in basketball, volleyball or cycling, women's teams regularly took part in regional tournaments.

But sanctions, decades of conflict and a hardening of conservative social values brought this era to a close, with only the autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq largely spared.