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RSS</a> </div> </div> <div id="header"> <h1><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/">Gorilla’s Guides</a></h1> <h2>“The only thing these sand niggers understand is force and I’m about to introduce them to it.”</h2> <div id="search"><form method="get" id="searchform" action="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/"> <div><input type="text" value="" name="s" id="s"/> <input type="submit" id="searchsubmit" value="Search"/> </div> </form> </div> </div> <hr/> <div id="content" class="span-13 append-1"> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-12918"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/04/01/iraq-women-struggle-to-make-ends-meet/#respond" title="Comment on Iraq: women struggle to make ends meet">No Comments</a></span> Posted on April 1st, 2011 by Harith</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/04/01/iraq-women-struggle-to-make-ends-meet/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Iraq: women struggle to make ends meet">Iraq: women struggle to make ends meet</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/category/iraq/" title="View all posts in News" rel="category tag">News</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/1990-1991-gulf-war/" rel="tag">1990-1991 Gulf War</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/abu-ghraib/" rel="tag">Abu Ghraib</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/basra/" rel="tag">Basra</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/children/" rel="tag">Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/detainees/" rel="tag">detainees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/detention-facilities/" rel="tag">detention facilities</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/disabled-people/" rel="tag">disabled people</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/divorce/" rel="tag">divorce</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/diwaniya/" rel="tag">Diwaniya</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/dohuk/" rel="tag">Dohuk</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/education/" rel="tag">Education</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/food-parcels/" rel="tag">Food parcels</a>, <a 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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/international-humanitarian-law/" rel="tag">international humanitarian law</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iran-iraq-war/" rel="tag">Iran-Iraq War</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-women/" rel="tag">iraqi women</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kadhimiya/" rel="tag">Kadhimiya</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/khanaqin/" rel="tag">Khanaqin</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/kurdish-regional-government/" rel="tag">kurdish regional government</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/limb-fitting/" rel="tag">Limb-fitting</a>, <a 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alleviation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/prisoners/" rel="tag">prisoners</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/qaim/" rel="tag">Qaim</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/red-cross-messages/" rel="tag">Red Cross messages</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/resources/" rel="tag">Resources</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sadr-city/" rel="tag">Sadr City</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/salah-al-din/" rel="tag">Salah al-Din</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/shirqat/" rel="tag">Shirqat</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/social-welfare/" rel="tag">social welfare</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/students/" rel="tag">Students</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sulaimaniya/" rel="tag">Sulaimaniya</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d9%85%d8%af%d9%8a%d9%86%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b5%d8%af%d8%b1%e2%80%8e/" rel="tag">مدينة الصدر‎</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water/" rel="tag">Water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-storage/" rel="tag">Water storage</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-supply/" rel="tag">water supply</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-treatment/" rel="tag">water treatment</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/water-treatment-plants/" rel="tag">water treatment plants</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/women-poverty-of/" rel="tag">women - poverty of</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/women-and-war/" rel="tag">women and war</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/womens-rights/" rel="tag">Women's Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%ac%d9%85%d8%b9%d9%8a%d8%a9-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b5%d9%84%d9%8a%d8%a8-%d9%88%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%87%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%ad%d9%85%d8%b1/" rel="tag">جمعية الصليب والهلال الاحمر</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>Iraqi women have repeatedly been victims of armed conflict in recent decades. Today, as their dependence on a crumbling social structure grows, many find themselves struggling to make ends meet. The ICRC is helping them get back on their feet.</p> <p>A great many women in Iraq are facing challenges in the task of caring for their families, earning income and taking part in community and professional life. Since widespread violence erupted in 2003, they have been increasingly caught in the crossfire, killed, wounded or driven from their homes. As their menfolk have been killed or taken away in large numbers, the entire burden of running the household has been suddenly thrust upon them.</p> <p>"Regardless of the circumstance of loss, the mere fact that there is no traditional breadwinner directly affects the family’s financial situation," said Caroline Douilliez, head of the ICRC’s Women and War programme in Iraq. "The ICRC’s observations across Iraq have led us to the distressing conclusion that the lack of regular and sufficient income over the years has cast a huge number of families into severe poverty."</p> <div style="border-right: black 1px solid; padding-right: 5px; border-top: black 1px solid; padding-left: 5px; float: right; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 300px; padding-top: 5px; border-bottom: black 1px solid"> <p>30-03-2011 Operational Update </p> <ul> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/2011/iraq-update-01-02-2011-icrc-eng.pdf" target="_blank" class="external"><strong>Download full document: "Iraq: women struggle to make ends meet"</strong></a> PDF 368 KB </li> </ul></div> <p>According to ICRC estimates, between one and two million households in Iraq today are headed by women. This figure includes women whose husbands are either dead, missing (some since as far back as 1980) or detained. Divorced women are also taken into account. All these women were wives at one time, and today remain mothers to their children and daughters to their parents, and sometimes ultimately breadwinners and caregivers for all these people. Without a male relative, they lack economic, physical and social protection and support. Often they struggle with harrowing memories of the circumstance of death or disappearance of their husband. Displaced women face the added challenge of coping with the loss of a home that they had to leave because of threats to their safety, or for lack of income.</p> <p>"With no job opportunities, with no help from relatives themselves too poor to provide it, and with no assistance from the State social-security system, these women’s daily struggle revolves around putting food on the table and paying for shelter, schooling and medical care," said Ms Douilliez. "Sometimes their only option is to take their young boys out of school and send them out to earn a few dinars for the family. As a result, future generations pay the price of today’s difficult times. Without a proper education, today’s youth will not be equipped to face their own challenges once they have families of their own."</p> <p>In response to this emergency, the ICRC has launched programmes aimed specifically to assist women heading households alone. Since 2008, the organization has focused on finding ways to help women attain self-sufficiency.</p> <p>At the same time, the ICRC closely monitors the effects of efforts made by the State to improve social-welfare benefits for women facing particular hardship. The ICRC can attest to the struggle required to increase budgetary allocations and other resources for this vulnerable group. Ms Douilliez stresses the scale of the problem and the need for a comprehensive approach by the Iraqi government.</p> <p>The ICRC is engaged in dialogue with parliamentarians and other central and provincial policy-makers to ensure that the social-welfare system for vulnerable women receives the resources it needs.</p> <p><b>Assistance:</b> Between 2009 and 2010 the ICRC assisted around 4,000 women heading households who have been displaced from their homes. Food parcels and hygiene items were distributed to women in Baghdad, Diyala and Ninawa governorates.</p> <p><b>Micro-economic initiatives:</b> The ICRC provides in-kind grants to help finance income-generating projects. The grants are extended to women who are willing and able to run such projects, which are often home-based businesses such as small shops, trade projects or food production. The projects, which have been initiated in Najaf, Basra, Missan and Baghdad since 2009, are conducted in partnership with local NGOs and monitored for several months to ensure sustainability.</p> <p><b>Social welfare benefits:</b> The ICRC, working in partnership with local NGOs, helps women handle the formalities associated with applying for social-welfare benefits. As the cost of travel to gather documents is high, especially for women who have very limited resources, it reimburses the travel expenses incurred by women in Baghdad, Anbar, Basra and Missan who have not previously applied for the allowance. In addition, the ICRC has provided the agency in charge of administering the benefit with technical support.</p> <h4>Bringing aid to people facing hardship</h4> <p>The ICRC has maintained its support for people struggling to earn a living, such as women heading households, people with disabilities and the displaced. During the months of January and February, the ICRC:</p> <ul> <li>provided emergency winter assistance for more than 44,000 displaced people in Ninawa, Kirkuk, Diyala, Baghdad, Wassit, Babil, Anbar, Salah Al-Din, Dohuk and Sulaimaniya; </li> <li>awarded 82 grants to disabled people and women heading households in Baghdad, Kirkuk, Ninawa, Sulaimaniya and Erbil to enable them to start small businesses and regain economic self-sufficiency. Around 900 households headed by women and the disabled have received such assistance since 2008. The grants have benefited over 5,000 people. </li> </ul> <h4>Assisting hospitals and physical rehabilitation centres</h4> <p>Because health-care services in some rural and conflict-prone areas are still struggling to meet the needs of the civilian population, the ICRC continues to help renovate the premises of health-care facilities and train staff. To help disabled people reintegrate into the community, the ICRC also continues to provide limb-fitting and physical rehabilitation services. In January and February:</p> <ul> <li>192 new patients were fitted with prostheses and 1,010 with orthoses at 10 ICRC-supported centres throughout Iraq; </li> <li>17 doctors and 44 nurses took part in a course on emergency services given in Sulaimaniya and Najaf for medical personnel from Koya, Erbil, Dohuk, Khanaqin, Sulaimaniya, Kirkuk, Babil, Muthanna, Diwaniya, Kerbala and Najaf. </li> </ul> <p>In 2010 the ICRC began providing on-site support for eight primary health-care centres in Diyala, Ninawa, Kirkuk, Babil and Diwaniya. By agreement with the local authorities, the ICRC visits the centres on a regular basis to maintain and, where necessary, upgrade water supply networks. The ICRC also provides advice for emergency stabilization and referral services. In addition, it helps local health administrations to ensure that stocks of medicines and vaccines are adequate and that these items are always readily available.</p> <p>Over 280,000 people, including internally displaced people, now have better access to basic health-care and emergency services in the eight primary health-care centres. By mid-2010, the ICRC was providing the centres with enhanced support for various services. Local health authorities appointed additional female doctors to work in some facilities and provided additional ambulances and beds.</p> <h4>Providing clean water and sanitation</h4> <p>Access to clean water remains difficult in much of Iraq. ICRC engineers continue to repair and upgrade water, electrical and sanitary facilities, especially in places where violence remains a concern and in rural areas to improve the quality of services provided in communities and health-care facilities. In January and February, these activities included:</p> <h5>Emergency assistance:</h5> <p>The ICRC delivered water by truck:</p> <ul> <li>to al-Sadr City (sectors 52 and 53), Husseinia and Ma’amil area in Baghdad governorate to over 4,840 internally displaced people; </li> <li>to al-Zeidan primary health-care centre in Abu Ghraib, Baghdad governorate. </li> </ul> <h5>Support for health-care facilities:</h5> <p>The ICRC completed the following works:</p> <ul> <li>upgrading the water storage capacity in al-Shirqat General Hospital (100-bed capacity) in Salah al-Din governorate; </li> <li>renovation of the sanitary facilities in three buildings (Zainab, al Kindy and al Razi) in al- Rashad Psychiatric Hospital Phase 2 Stage 2 (1,300-bed capacity) in Baghdad governorate; </li> <li>renovation of a primary health-care centre in al-Sadr City (300 patients per day) in Baghdad governorate. The area served by the centre has a population of 50,000; </li> <li>installation of specialized equipment in al-Sadr Teaching Hospital (200 bed capacity), Najaf governorate. </li> </ul> <h5>Drinking-water supply:</h5> <p>The ICRC completed 10 main projects benefiting over 612,250 people throughout the country:</p> <ul> <li>renovation of Qaim water treatment plant in Anbar governorate, serving about 170,000 people; </li> <li>renovation of a compact unit in Za’faraniya, Baghdad governorate, serving about 200,000 people; </li> <li>transfer and reinstallation of a compact unit from al-Quds to al-Rasheed in Baghdad governorate, serving about 15,000 people; </li> <li>upgrade of five compact units in Abu Ghraib district, Baghdad governorate, serving about 74,000 people; </li> <li>renovation of a compact unit in al-Shirqat, Salah al-Din governorate, serving about 20,000 people; </li> <li>renovation of a compact unit in Diyala governorate serving about 40,000 people; </li> <li>supply of a generator for Mendili and Qaratapa water treatment plants in Diyala governorate, serving about 42,000 people; </li> <li>upgrade of water supply system in Qosh villages, in Ninawa, serving about 45,000 people; </li> <li>upgrade of water supply system in Khanaqin, Diyala governorate, serving about 6,000 people; </li> <li>renovation of a compact unit in Missan governorate serving about 250 people. </li> </ul> <h5>Renovation of infrastructure in places of detention:</h5> <p>● electro-mechanical works completed in Kadhimiya maximum security prison in Baghdad governorate; <br/>● improvement of the women’s yard in Hilla Prison (No. 2), Babil governorate, serving about 50 detainees.</p> <h4>Visiting detainees</h4> <p>In January and February, ICRC delegates visited detainees held by the Iraqi Correctional Service under the authority of the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the Interior, various branches of the Kurdish Regional Government and the United States government in 27 places of detention in 14 governorates. The delegates monitored the conditions in which detainees were being held and the treatment they received.</p> <p>The ICRC shared its observations and recommendations with the detaining authorities with a view to bringing about improvements where needed.</p> <p>In some of the places of detention, the ICRC gave detainees mattresses, blankets and recreational items such as books and games.</p> <p>The ICRC makes a special effort to restore and maintain ties between people held in detention facilities and their loved ones. In January and February over 350 Red Cross messages were exchanged between detainees and their families in Iraq and abroad. The ICRC also responded to over 750 enquiries from families seeking information on detained relatives or requesting other types of information, for instance on missing relatives. In addition, in Iraq, Iran and Kuwait, the ICRC issued close to 1,000 certificates of detention to former detainees and prisoners of war from previous international armed conflicts. The voluntary repatriation of two released detainees took place under the auspices of the ICRC. The organization also issued travel documents to 13 persons, mainly refugees, to enable them to resettle abroad. In February, the ICRC made arrangements for a three-day visit for seven Iraqi families (19 persons) to visit their loved ones detained in Kuwait Central Prison.</p> <h4>Clarifying the fate of missing people</h4> <p>During the months of January and February, the ICRC, in its role as a neutral intermediary, chaired a meeting between Iraq and Iran during which joint field work undertaken with a view to recovering the remains of soldiers killed during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War was discussed. It also chaired one meeting of the Technical Sub-Committee dealing with missing persons from the 1990-1991 Gulf War, and participated in technical meetings with the parties concerned with a view to preparing joint field exhumations.</p> <p>The mortal remains of 38 persons, presumed to be Iraqi soldiers killed during the Iran-Iraq War, were handed over by the Iranian to the Iraqi authorities under ICRC auspices.</p> <p>The ICRC continued to provide the Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights and Baghdad’s Medical-Legal Institute with the technical support they require to exchange information and build up their capacity in the area of forensics. In January, the ICRC provided training in forensic anthropology for 27 members of the Medico-Legal Institute.</p> <h4>Promoting compliance with international humanitarian law</h4> <p>Reminding parties to a conflict of their obligation to protect civilians is a fundamental part of the ICRC’s work. The organization also endeavours to spread knowledge of international humanitarian law by organizing presentations for various audiences, including military personnel, prison staff, students and professors.</p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/update/2011/iraq-update-2011-03-30.htm" class="external" target="_blank">Iraq: women struggle to make ends meet</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-12169"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/01/10/occupation-of-iraq-destroys-womens-lives/#respond" title="Comment on Occupation of Iraq destroys women’s lives">No Comments</a></span> Posted on January 10th, 2011 by Fatima Jameel</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/2011/01/10/occupation-of-iraq-destroys-womens-lives/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Occupation of Iraq destroys women’s lives">Occupation of Iraq destroys women’s lives</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/category/features/" title="View all posts in Features" rel="category tag">Features</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/category/human-rights/" title="View all posts in Human Rights" rel="category tag">Human Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/category/women/" title="View all posts in Women and Children" rel="category tag">Women and Children</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-jazeera/" rel="tag">al-Jazeera</a>, <a 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rel="tag">statistics</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/torture/" rel="tag">Torture</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unemployment/" rel="tag">unemployment</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unemployment-levels/" rel="tag">unemployment levels</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unhcr/" rel="tag">UNHCR</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unicef/" rel="tag">UNICEF</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/war-crimes/" rel="tag">War Crimes</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/widows/" rel="tag">Widows</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/wikileaks/" rel="tag">Wikileaks</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/womens/" rel="tag">women's</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/womens-rights/" rel="tag">Women's Rights</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>More than seven years after the US- and UK-led invasion of their country, Iraqis continue to endure an occupation that has systematically violated their rights to life, dignity, self-determination and economic development. The occupation has been and continues to be so destructive and so violent that one in four Iraqis are estimated to be dead or displaced. One in five Iraqis has been made a refugee or an internally displaced person (IDP). </p> <div style="border-right: black 1px solid; padding-right: 5px; border-top: black 1px solid; padding-left: 5px; float: right; padding-bottom: 5px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-left: black 1px solid; width: 300px; padding-top: 5px; border-bottom: black 1px solid"> <p>Serene Assir, <i>The Electronic Intifada,</i> 10 January 2011 </p> <p><em>Serene Assir is a Lebanese independent writer and journalist based in Spain.</em></p> <p>Source: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11723.shtml" class="external" target="_blank">ei: Occupation of Iraq destroys women’s lives</a></p> </p></div> <p>In particular, the role and situation of women and girls has declined precipitously compared to prior to the invasion. From torture to rape to assassination, from forced separation for mixed couples to women and their children enduring the death of their husbands and fathers, from a loss of educational rights to expulsion from the workplace and public life, and from sexual slavery to forced flight or enforced disappearance, for the past seven years Iraqi women and girls have endured the most terrifying of fates. They are living at the mercy of an occupation that both seeks to terrorize them into submission, and to use them as objects for the terrorization of the whole of Iraqi society. </p> <h3>No security </h3> <p>Dr. Souad al-Azzawi, who authored a study on Iraqi women entitled "Deterioration of Iraq women’s rights and living conditions under occupation," published in January 2008, told The Electronic Intifada: "The most significant loss that Iraqi women have suffered is a complete and total loss of security." She explained that the loss of security entails both the loss of physical security and "the economic, social and civil securities Iraqi women were so accustomed to prior to the occupation." </p> <p>In fact, it appears that the loss of physical and other aspects of security have a Catch-22 effect on the lives of women. The lack of legal and institutional support for women by an Iraqi puppet government which is at best ineffective has meant that in the vast majority of cases the criminals, mafias, militias, death squads, US occupation forces and Iraqi police and army forces committing crimes against women are not held accountable for their actions. This has in turn encouraged the development of a situation characterized by lawlessness and criminality, in which women are prime targets. As such, many women have been forced to leave their jobs and quit their education, for fear that they may be the next victim of rape or assassination. </p> <p>According to al-Azzawi, Iraqi women have had to resort to "the relative security of their homes," often taking their children out of school too if they were the only parent able to accompany them there and back. </p> <p>Echoing al-Azzawi’s words, an Iraqi refugee speaking on condition of anonymity said that she was forced to leave Iraq precisely because of death threats issued against her by militias who had found out she was actively working as a journalist seeking to expose the injustices taking place against women. Had she stayed in Iraq, the threats likely would have been fulfilled. </p> <p>"Not only was I being targeted, but I was also without protection, given that Iraq has no government to speak of," she explained. She added that "I could have been killed at any moment, and no one would have been held accountable for it. It was for one reason alone that I fled: because I had no choice." </p> <h3>Criminal levels of poverty </h3> <p>The figures speak for themselves. According to a dossier on Iraqi women published by the BRussells Tribunal, prior to the invasion 72 percent of working women were government employees. The dismantlement of state institutions immediately after the invasion meant that these women became unemployed. Instability and ineffective institutions in Iraq render it impossible to pinpoint the total rate of unemployment today, but estimates range from 15 percent to 70 percent. The few stable jobs that exist, according to the dossier, are usually given to men, though a growing number of female-headed households means that many women need to take extraordinary risks in order to try and cater for their children ("<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://www.brussellstribunal.org/pdf/Women.pdf" class="external" target="_blank">Iraqi Women Under Occupation</a>" [PDF]). </p> <p>The same economic insecurity affects Iraqi refugee families. Aseer al-Madaien, the Protection Officer for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) – Syria, says that out of 139,000 registered Iraqis in Syria, 28 percent are households headed by women. In total, estimates for the total number of displaced Iraqis, including both refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), range up to almost five million, according to the international organization Medecins Sans Frontieres, which believes that there are 2.5 million Iraqi IDPs and 2.3 million refugees. </p> <p>IDPs suffer both extreme vulnerability and insecurity, as they seek refuge in the homes of relatives and friends, said Hana Al Bayaty, member of the Executive Committee of the BRussells Tribunal. Many of them are the victims of ethnic cleansing, whereby a country once free of sectarianism is increasingly witnessing the targeting of persons on the basis of their religion or ethnicity. Mixed marriages in these conditions are all too often broken up by force, according to a report published by the UN-affiliated IRIN humanitarian news agency ("<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=26268" class="external" target="_blank">Mixed Marriages confront Sectarian Violence</a>," 6 April 2006). </p> <p>The majority of Iraqi refugees have headed to neighboring countries Syria and Jordan, where they are not allowed to work, as they are legally considered "guests." In 2007, the UNHCR reported that an estimated 40 percent of Iraq’s middle class had fled the country. Not only have almost half of those with the qualifications and experience to help rebuild Iraq left the country, but they are also suffering from the most extreme form of disempowerment, according to Al Bayaty. </p> <p>Al-Azzawi explained that "For the educated middle class, this situation is shattering as everything we have worked so hard to earn and build up over decades of war and sanctions is being brought down by military force before our very eyes." </p> <p>Unable to work legally, it is often refugee women who take upon themselves the burden and the risk of working as they are less likely to be asked for documentation on the streets of Amman, Damascus and beyond, and they thereby hope to be less likely to be deported. </p> <p>Unemployment levels in Syria and Jordan, however, mean that even illegal work is hard to come by. It is because of this that the phenomenon of forced prostitution is becoming increasingly rife. The growing problem of sex trafficking is partly caused by poverty. </p> <p>According to al-Azzawi, the lack of work permits, qualifications and opportunities "leads some women to prostitution in order to feed their children and their families." In other cases, the sheer lack of protection faced by some women push them into prostitution. Problems in such cases include threats of kidnapping issued against women should they not accept to prostitute themselves. These threats are issued especially against women whose husbands are dead or missing. "The women of Iraq live in a very fragile situation as a result of the American occupation’s crimes," al-Azzawi said. </p> <h3>Death, torture and enforced disappearance </h3> <p>No statistical reference can adequately convey the sheer suffering experienced by the people of Iraq, as a whole, from the genocidal sanctions period through the invasion and ensuing occupation. Current estimates place the number of dead at anywhere between 1.5 million and 2.5 million. </p> <p>According to Iraqi human rights analyst and advocate Asma al-Haidari, "Up to one million Iraqis have been forcibly disappeared." Behind the enforced disappearances are the US army, Iraqi government forces including the army and police, and al-Qaeda and other militias that operate freely across the country, according to a presentation given by Dirk Adriaensens, member of the BRussells Tribunal Executive Committee, at a London conference organized by the International Committee Against Disappearances on 9-12 December 2010. According to calculations by Adriaensens, based on UNHCR statistics, 20 percent of internally displaced Iraqi families have reported cases of missing children ("<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://www.brussellstribunal.org/pdf/Disappearances_missing_persons_in_Iraq.pdf" class="external" target="_blank">Enforced Disappearance. The Missing Persons of Iraq</a>" [PDF]). </p> <p>It is also understood that, given that there is a very real and justified fear of retaliation against families who report the disappearances of their loved ones, many others suffer in silence. Thousands of detainees, some of them in secret, illegal prisons, according to al-Azzawi, are women. Estimates published in 2008 by the Iraqi Parliamentary Women’s Committee and the Iraqi Ministry of Women’s Affairs indicate that between one and two million Iraqi women are widows. </p> <p>Inside Iraq’s jails, legal or not, cases of torture and sexual abuse have been widely reported. Revelations by WikiLeaks published on 22 October 2010 were described by Iraqi activists such as Sabah al-Mukhtar, president of the Arab Lawyers’ Union, as just "the tip of the iceberg," as he said on an Al-Jazeera English interview on 24 October. According to al-Azzawi, women are usually jailed on trumped-up charges of terrorism, where there is no proof and while there is no adequate legal system to ensure their right to a fair trial. "Many are awaiting execution," al-Azzawi added. </p> <p>Further, when it is the man who disappears, whether he is dead or missing, women and their families have to fend for themselves in a hellish situation. Out of this horror comes forth one of the more obtuse trends, inexistent in Iraq up until 2003, of families giving their daughters away in early marriage for fear of being unable to adequately support them. </p> <p>One immediate effect of this phenomenon is the fact that girls aged 13, 14 and 15 sold into early marriage lose their right to education. As figures currently stand, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report published on 1 September 2010, for every 100 boys in school, there are only 89 girls ("<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/MCOI-89RD6Y?OpenDocument" class="external" target="_blank">Girls Education in Iraq 2010</a>" [PDF]). </p> <p>"Lots of those little girls are very bright and are willing to finish their education if they are allowed to," said al-Azzawi. </p> <p>Worse still is the flourishing of what are known as "pleasure marriages." These are short-term marriages conducted out of court, whereby separation is also very simple. It is a practice that Iraqi women’s rights advocates describe as linked to prostitution, because of the wrongful abuse of the practice by men in power, often blackmailing fathers into giving their daughters away in a "pleasure marriage," and also because once a girl or a woman has married in this way and has received alimony for her short-term commitment, she will find it very difficult to reintegrate back into her family. </p> <p>"Many girls are forced into prostitution and ultimately sex trafficking this way," al-Azzawi added. </p> <h3>Forced Islamization of society </h3> <p>It is deeply telling that Iraqi society is becoming forcibly Islamized by militias tied to the Iraqi puppet government, which is dependent upon the United States for its survival. Meanwhile, Washington claims to be fighting a war on Islamic terrorism. The reality, as is frequently the case, is the precise opposite. Previously a secular state, Iraqi society is becoming forcibly transformed into a theocracy. In such systems, women and girls inevitably lose. </p> <p>The results of the proliferation of fundamentalist militias are varied. While reports of Christian women veiling in order to avoid attacks are troubling in the Iraqi context, what is potentially much worse is that the notion of an Iraqi state for all its citizens is fast disappearing. Not only does this mean that Iraqi girls are no longer safe on the streets; it also means that if the occupation fulfills its goals, Iraqi "career women" may be a thing of the past. </p> <p>Al-Azzawi notes that "Economically the country has lost a huge, skilled working force, which is exactly what the occupation planned to do, and the lives of millions of working women and families were shattered." </p> <p>Considering that there is not a single right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that the US occupation has not violated — as the International Initiative to Prosecute US Genocide in Iraq team found when working in 2009 to bring a legal case for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against four US presidents and four UK prime ministers — it is amazing yet encouraging that the US occupation’s goals have failed. </p> <p>Not only is the US administration under President Barack Obama still battling to maintain control over a country whose people resist in the name of their dignity and their love for Iraq, but many of the most outspoken and brilliant advocates for Iraqis’ rights in general are in fact women. </p> <p>"I have much hope for Iraq," said human rights advocate Asma al-Haidari, "Nothing will make me lose hope." </p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11891"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/12/08/iraq-displaced-women-still-struggle-for-survival/#respond" title="Comment on IRAQ: Displaced women still struggle for survival">No Comments</a></span> Posted on December 8th, 2010 by Hussein Kareem</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/12/08/iraq-displaced-women-still-struggle-for-survival/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to IRAQ: Displaced women still struggle for survival">IRAQ: Displaced women still struggle for survival</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/category/human-rights/" title="View all posts in Human Rights" rel="category tag">Human Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/category/women/" title="View all posts in Women and Children" rel="category tag">Women and Children</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/children/" rel="tag">Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/children-domestic-assault/" rel="tag">Children - domestic assault</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/dignity/" rel="tag">dignity</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/discrimination/" rel="tag">discrimination</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/displacement/" rel="tag">displacement</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/domestic-violence/" rel="tag">domestic violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/drinking-water/" rel="tag">drinking water</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/food-ration/" rel="tag">food ration</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/gender-issues/" rel="tag">Gender Issues</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/health/" rel="tag">Health</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/international-organization-for-migration/" rel="tag">international organization for migration</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-women/" rel="tag">iraqi women</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/nutrition/" rel="tag">nutrition</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/oppression/" rel="tag">Oppression</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugees/" rel="tag">Refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/violence-against-women/" rel="tag">violence against women</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/women-social-position-of/" rel="tag">Women -social position of</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/women-and-children/" rel="tag">Women and Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/womens-poverty-neglect-of/" rel="tag">Women's poverty - neglect of</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/womens-rights-violations-of/" rel="tag">Women's Rights - violations of</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/womens-welfare-neglect-of/" rel="tag">Women's welfare - neglect of</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>BAGHDAD, 7 December 2010 (<a title="IRIN" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=91310" class="external" target="_blank">IRIN</a>) – Displaced Iraqi female-headed families who have returned home are still experiencing major livelihood challenges, says the International Organization for Migration (IOM). </p> <p>An IOM survey of 1,355 female-headed displaced families who have returned to their places of origin found that 74 percent are struggling to secure adequate nutrition for their families. </p> <p>Delays in receiving subsidized government food rations or lack of some food items in the rations force women to buy food with whatever money they have, adding to their struggle, the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://www.iomiraq.net/library/IOM_di...rts/2010/Female%20Headed%20Households.pdf" class="external" target="_blank">report</a>, issued on 3 December, states. </p> <p>The survey also found that health problems and social norms had prevented nearly 40 percent of them from finding jobs. Of those who are able to work, 71 percent are unemployed. </p> <p>About 40 percent of those surveyed said they depended on relatives, neighbours, NGOs and religious groups to meet their needs. And more than 25 percent had a family member with chronic disease while one in four lacked access to healthcare. </p> <p>"These women have to support their children and elderly family members. Without a steady income, they become reliant on support from whoever can give it but it is not systematic," said Antonio Salanga, IOM’s head of the Baghdad regional hub. </p> <h3>New approach needed </h3> <p>Iraqi activist and former lawmaker Salama Smeisim said a swift and new approach had to be taken by the government, local and international organizations towards female-related issues in Iraq, especially the displaced. </p> <p>“The oppression against women is still continuing in Iraq,” Smeisim told IRIN. “The plight of the displaced women has not been dealt with seriously. They need adequate houses to preserve their dignity, schools for their children, electricity and drinking water.” </p> <p>She said Iraqi women in general, but mainly the displaced, faced a series of challenges, beginning with securing their livelihoods if they headed their families to the hardship in finding work either because of the social norms or discrimination, lack of awareness of their rights and the corruption that prevents government funds from reaching them. </p> <p>“I do believe that we need a special programme to spread awareness among women about their rights and support them on how to start a project that can secure a steady income for their families without relying on anyone,” Smeisim said. </p> <p>The IOM survey also found that domestic violence against women had substantially increased in the past five years due to the country’s unprecedented displacement, with one in five Iraqi women subjected to physical violence and a third to psychological violence. </p> <h3>Political and security turmoil </h3> <p>Mohammed Abdul-Jabbar, a Baghdad-based analyst, said that neglect of women-related programmes was due to the political and security turmoil experienced by the previous governments. </p> <p>“Of course politicians, whether inside or outside the government, were not dealing with women’s issues as one of the urgent needs to [rebuild] the society as they set a list of priorities in the political and security fields,” Abdul-Jabbar said. </p> <p>“It is highly unlikely that any progress could be achieved in this field by the next government as the same problems in the security and political arena still exist and are deep,” he added. </p> <p>Nine months since Iraq held its national elections, no government has been formed as politicians are struggling to reach an agreement to share power and distribute government posts.  </p> <p><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=91310" class="external" target="_blank">IRIN Middle East | IRAQ: Displaced women still struggle for survival | Iraq | Gender Issues | Refugees/IDPs</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11822"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/11/28/iraq-no-country-for-women/#respond" title="Comment on IRAQ: No country for women">No Comments</a></span> Posted on November 28th, 2010 by Khaled</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/11/28/iraq-no-country-for-women/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to IRAQ: No country for women">IRAQ: No country for women</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/category/features/" title="View all posts in Features" rel="category tag">Features</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/category/women/" title="View all posts in Women and Children" rel="category tag">Women and Children</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/2003-invasion-of-iraq/" rel="tag">2003 invasion of iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/analysis/" rel="tag">Analysis</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/children/" rel="tag">Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/death-threats/" rel="tag">Death Threats</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/disempowerment/" rel="tag">disempowerment</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/domestic-violence/" rel="tag">domestic violence</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/female-genital-mutilation/" rel="tag">Female genital mutilation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/gender-issues/" rel="tag">Gender Issues</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/genital-mutilation/" rel="tag">genital mutilation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/governance/" rel="tag">Governance</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/human-rights/" rel="tag">Human Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/interior-ministry/" rel="tag">Interior Ministry</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/invasion-of-iraq/" rel="tag">invasion of iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-women/" rel="tag">iraqi women</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/middle-east/" rel="tag">Middle East</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/militias/" rel="tag">Militias</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/poverty/" rel="tag">Poverty</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/prostitution/" rel="tag">Prostitution</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/refugees/" rel="tag">Refugees</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/security/" rel="tag">Security</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/syria/" rel="tag">Syria</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unhcr/" rel="tag">UNHCR</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/vice/" rel="tag">Vice</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/women-trafficking-in/" rel="tag">Women - trafficking in</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/womens-rights/" rel="tag">Women's Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/womens-rights-violations-of/" rel="tag">Women's Rights - violations of</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>MADRID, 28 November 2010 (IRIN) – The improved political representation of women in Iraq is in sharp contrast to their broader <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=91216%20" class="external" target="_blank">disempowerment</a>, as highlighted by the persistence of domestic violence and early marriage, according to a new report by the UN Inter-Agency Information and Analysis Unit. </p> <p>Women may hold 25 percent of seats in the Iraqi parliament, but one in five in the 15-49 age group has suffered physical violence at the hands of her husband. Anecdotal evidence alleges that “many women are being kidnapped and sold into prostitution”, and female genital mutilation is still common in the north, the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://www.iauiraq.org/end-violence-against-women-campain.asp" class="external" target="_blank">report</a> notes. </p> <p>“The situation many Iraqi women and girls face is beyond words,” journalist Eman Khammas told IRIN in a telephone interview. “Before, I was a journalist, a professional; now, I am nothing.” </p> <p>Khammas noted an underlying social climate of intolerance that has become increasingly poisonous for women. She was forced to flee Iraq after receiving death threats that effectively stopped her – like thousands of other Iraqi women – from working. She now lives in Spain. </p> <h3>Stay home</h3> <p>Women’s participation in the labour force has fallen sharply since 2003. Before the invasion, 40 percent of public sector workers were women, according to a report by the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://www.brussellstribunal.org/cooperate.htm" class="external" target="_blank">BRussels Tribunal</a>, an anti-war movement. Some sectors, such as the teaching profession, were almost entirely staffed by women, Khammas said. </p> <p>She cited the “new, fundamentalist thinking”, which emerged after the 2003 invasion of Iraq that has been aggressively imposed by the militias, armed private groups purporting to uphold religious law. </p> <p>The collapse of public social services has also limited access to education, health and jobs, while a high level of insecurity has pushed women out of public life and into the seclusion of their homes, and an ineffective judicial system has created an atmosphere of impunity, Khammas said. </p> <p>The conservative attitudes of public sector officials has been reinforced by a government that supports keeping women at home, according to a 2007 report by the international women’s resource network, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://www.madre.org/" class="external" target="_blank">MADRE</a>. </p> <p>“In 2006, the Iraqi Interior Ministry issued a series of notices warning women not to leave their homes alone and echoing the directives of religious leaders who urge men to prevent women family members from holding jobs,” the report noted. </p> <p>“Thus, the violence carried out by militias in the streets is backed up by more respectable political leaders, who support the call for a women-free public sphere.” </p> <p>Escalating poverty has pushed Iraqi families into prioritizing schooling for boys, stifling future opportunities for women. </p> <p>“For every 100 boys enrolled in primary schools in Iraq, there are just under 89 girls,” the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said in a report released in September 2010. School enrollment figures for girls have been progressively declining, while drop-out rates have gone up in every academic year. </p> <h3>Getting out</h3> <p>Factors pushing girls out of schooling included “security risks, attitudes to girls and education, the state of the nation’s schools, what is taught and how it is taught, the skills and attitudes of teachers, family poverty,” UNICEF said. </p> <p>Like Khammas, many other women have chosen to leave Iraq, but asylum does not necessarily end their difficulties. Neighbouring Syria is home to the majority of what the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) considers as Iraqi “persons of concern” – people who have left their home country out of fear for their safety but do not conform to the legal definition of “refugee”. </p> <p>Of the 139,000 registered Iraqi persons of concern in Syria, 28 percent fall under female-headed households, the UNHCR Protection Officer in Syria, Aseer Al-Madaien, told IRIN in an email interview. </p> <p>Many do not have work permits, which compounds the difficulties female-headed households face in neighbouring countries, where they struggle to make a living, “especially paying the rent”, while still “coping with family, social and community pressure”, Al-Madaien commented. </p> <p>Their vulnerability can lead to exploitation. “There is trafficking happening among the Iraqi refugees, [but] the scope and modality is not known to us,” said Al-Madaien. </p> <p>According to the UN Inter-Agency Information and Analysis Unit report, “Victims are trafficked internally and to neighbouring countries, including Syria and the Gulf states”.</p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=91218" class="external" target="_blank">IRIN Middle East | IRAQ: No country for women | Iraq | Gender Issues | Governance | Human Rights | Security</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11713"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/26/%d9%88%d8%ab%d8%a7%d8%a6%d9%82-%d9%88%d9%8a%d9%83%d9%8a%d9%84%d9%8a%d9%83%d8%b3-%d8%aa%d9%83%d8%b4%d9%81-%d8%aa%d9%81%d8%a7%d8%b5%d9%8a%d9%84-%d8%a7%d8%b3%d8%aa%d8%b4%d9%87%d8%a7%d8%af-%d8%a7%d9%84/#respond" title="Comment on وثائق (ويكيليكس) تكشف تفاصيل استشهاد الطفلة العراقية حنان مطرود">No Comments</a></span> Posted on October 26th, 2010 by Ali Ibn Hussayn</div> <h3><a 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href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/constitution/" rel="tag">Constitution</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/crimes-against-women/" rel="tag">crimes against women</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/discrimination/" rel="tag">discrimination</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/human-rights/" rel="tag">Human Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/human-rights-ministry/" rel="tag">Human Rights Ministry</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-women/" rel="tag">iraqi women</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rights-of-women/" rel="tag">rights of women</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/supreme-judicial-council/" rel="tag">Supreme Judicial Council</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/women-honour-killings/" rel="tag">Women - "Honour" Killings</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/women-killing-of/" rel="tag">Women - killing of</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/womens-rights/" rel="tag">Women's Rights</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <div dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>لندن: كشفت وثائق "ويكيليكس" عن حرب احتلال العراق، تفاصيل استشهاد الطفلة العراقية حنان صالح مطرود (8 أعوام) التي قتلها جندي بريطاني أمام منزلها في البصرة في 21 آب 2003، وظل الجيش البريطاني ينكر مسؤوليته</p> <p>عن الحادث طوال سنوات، فيما ستكون هذه الواقعة ضمن 142 حادثة في قضية واحدة تقدم للمحكمة العليا ببريطانيا الشهر القادم.وقالت صحيفة "ميل أون صنداي" البريطانية: إن محامي حقوق الإنسان فيل شاينر قدم القليل من تفاصيل اغتيال الطفلة العراقية حنان صالح مطرود خلال مؤتمر صحفي عقده في لندن، بمشاركة مؤسس موقع "ويكيليكس" جوليان أسانج، الذي كان يدافع عن نشر 400 ألف وثيقة عن حرب احتلال العراق.وقال شاينر الذي ينتمي لرابطة "محامون من أجل الشعب" ومقرها برمنجهام: "لسبب أو لآخر، توقفت دبابة بريطانية في نهاية الشارع، حيث كان الأطفال يلعبون بمنطقة كرمة علي، شمال البصرة، وكانت الفتاة تقف خارج منزلها وهى ترتدي فستاناً أصفر، فجأة خرج من قلب الدبابة جندي بريطاني حاملاً بندقيته، وأطلق النار على الطفلة في وضح النهار".وأضاف شاينر: "من الصعب التكهن بسبب إطلاق النار على الطفلة، أثناء لعبها في إحدى ضواحي البصرة، حيث كانت القوات البريطانية في المعتاد تقدم الحلوى للأطفال، في محاولة لكسب القلوب والعقول". وقدم العديد من الأسئلة والاستفسارات بشأن الواقعة، ورغم أنه انتظر أن تقدم وزارة الدفاع البريطانية تفسيرا، لكنها رفضت أن تؤكد أو تنفى علمها بالحادث، وبعد شهرين اعترف الجيش البريطاني أن جندياً من السرية الثانية، في الكتيبة الأولى "كتيبة الملك" قد "أطلق رصاصة تحذير في الهواء، بالقرب من منزل الطفلة في ذلك اليوم".لكن الجيش رفض الاعتذار، قائلاً: "من المحتمل أن الرصاصة قد قتلت الطفلة"، ورغم أن الضباط اعتذروا لأسرة الطفلة سراً، ووعدوهم بفتح تحقيق، فإن وزارة الدفاع البريطانية لم تتخذ أي إجراء علني في الواقعة.وقالت الصحيفة: من المعتقد أن شاينر يشير إلى واقعة إطلاق النار على الطفلة العراقية حنان صالح مطرود، التي قتلها جندي بريطاني أمام منزلها في منطقة "كرمة علي" شمال البصرة في 21 آب 2003.وقال شاينر: إن المدنيين العراقيين كانوا يقتلون في "هجمات دون تمييز"، واستخدمت قوات الاحتلال ضدهم "القتل غير المبرر" حتى وصل عدد المدنيين الذين قتلوا 66 ألفاً، من نحو 115 ألفاً قتلوا في العراق ما بين 2004 و 2009، حسب الوثائق الأمريكية، وقد أعلن شاينر أنه وضع تفاصيل 142 واقعة لمدنيين عراقيين في قضية واحدة سيتقدم بها إلى المحكمة العليا في بريطانيا الشهر القادم”.</p> </p></div> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11682"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/24/honor-washing-crimes-kill-84-iraqi-women-in-2009-aswat-al-iraq/#respond" title="Comment on Honor washing crimes kill 84 Iraqi women in 2009 : Aswat Al Iraq">No Comments</a></span> Posted on October 24th, 2010 by Diya al din</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/24/honor-washing-crimes-kill-84-iraqi-women-in-2009-aswat-al-iraq/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Honor washing crimes kill 84 Iraqi women in 2009 : Aswat Al Iraq">Honor washing crimes kill 84 Iraqi women in 2009 : Aswat Al Iraq</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/category/human-rights/" title="View all posts in Human Rights" rel="category tag">Human Rights</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/article-14/" rel="tag">Article 14</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/constitution/" rel="tag">Constitution</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/crimes-against-women/" rel="tag">crimes against women</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/discrimination/" rel="tag">discrimination</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/human-rights/" rel="tag">Human Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/human-rights-ministry/" rel="tag">Human Rights Ministry</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-women/" rel="tag">iraqi women</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rights-of-women/" rel="tag">rights of women</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/supreme-judicial-council/" rel="tag">Supreme Judicial Council</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/women-honour-killings/" rel="tag">Women - "Honour" Killings</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/women-killing-of/" rel="tag">Women - killing of</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/womens-rights/" rel="tag">Women's Rights</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <blockquote><p>BAGHDAD / <a title="Aswat al-Iraq" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=138275" class="external" target="_blank">Aswat al-Iraq</a>: Iraq’s Human Rights Ministry has announced on Sunday that the so-called “Honor-Washing Crimes” has claimed the lives of 84 women in 2009, representing what the Ministry called as “drop in such crimes than the ones committed the previous year that had reached 87 crimes.”</p> <p>“The attitude of the Planning & Statistics Board of the Supreme Judicial Council has pointed out that 10 of the said crimes have reached their final court decisions last year, an evidence for the legal protection of those who committed honor-washing crimes against women in Iraq,” a Ministry report said.</p> <p>The report pointed out that the number of women killed in such crimes in Baghdad had reached 15 women, Babelyon – 3 women, Anbar – 4 women, Wassit – 9 women, Nejaf 8, Muthanna – 1, Dhi-Qar – 15, Missan – 3 and Diwaniya – 1 woman.</p> <p>The report quoted the said statistics as “having proved non-achievement of a positive change in the society, that prevents killing a woman for honor purposes, pointing out that “the crime of killing for honor-washing demands the adjustment of Article 409 in the Iraqi law, that stands counter to the Islamic Legitimacy and international principles related to the human rights of women, for their right in life and equivalence with the main before the law, according to Article 14 of the Iraqi constitution.</p> <p>The said report also pointed out that the Human Rights Ministry had called in its annual report for “rehabilitation of the legal institutions and cases, in such a way that treats all Iraqis as the same by the law and necessity to lay down principles that will be based in adjustment of the law, especially because of equivalence and non-discrimination due to the sex.</p> </blockquote> <p><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=138275" class="external" target="_blank">Honor washing crimes kill 84 Iraqi women in 2009 : Aswat Al Iraq</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-11646"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/20/what-the-u-s-undid-for-women-in-iraq-a-qa-with-thoraya-obaid-ips/#respond" title="Comment on What the U.S. Undid for Women in Iraq | A Q&A with Thoraya Obaid | IPS">No Comments</a></span> Posted on October 20th, 2010 by Umm Fatima</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/10/20/what-the-u-s-undid-for-women-in-iraq-a-qa-with-thoraya-obaid-ips/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to What the U.S. Undid for Women in Iraq | A Q&A with Thoraya Obaid | IPS">What the U.S. Undid for Women in Iraq | A Q&A with Thoraya Obaid | IPS</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/category/human-rights/" title="View all posts in Human Rights" rel="category tag">Human Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/category/women/" title="View all posts in Women and Children" rel="category tag">Women and Children</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/human-rights/" rel="tag">Human Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/invasion/" rel="tag">invasion</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ips/" rel="tag">IPS</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-women/" rel="tag">iraqi women</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/islam/" rel="tag">Islam</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/liberia/" rel="tag">Liberia</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/occupation/" rel="tag">occupation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/occupation-of-iraq/" rel="tag">occupation of iraq</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/rights-of-women/" rel="tag">rights of women</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/role-of-women/" rel="tag">role of women</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/saudi-arabia/" rel="tag">Saudi Arabia</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/stereotypes/" rel="tag">stereotypes</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/thoraya-obaid/" rel="tag">Thoraya Obaid</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/un/" rel="tag">U.N.</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/unfpa/" rel="tag">UNFPA</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/violence-against-women/" rel="tag">violence against women</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/wo/" rel="tag">wo</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/women-in-war/" rel="tag">Women in war</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/womens-rights/" rel="tag">Women's Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/womens-rights-violations-of/" rel="tag">Women's Rights - violations of</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a5%d8%b3%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%85%e2%80%8e/" rel="tag">الإسلام‎</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p><a title="Thoraya_Ahmed_Obaid_captioned by Gorillas Guides, on Flickr" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://www.flickr.com/photos/27086036@N02/5099871677/" class="external" target="_blank"><img style="border-right: black 1px solid; border-top: black 1px solid; display: inline; margin: 5px 0px 5px 15px; border-left: black 1px solid; border-bottom: black 1px solid" height="400" alt="Thoraya_Ahmed_Obaid_captioned" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930im_/http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1158/5099871677_54a4a679e1_o.jpg" width="150" align="right"/></a> <p><b>LONDON, Oct 20, 2010 (<a title="IPS" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=53232" class="external" target="_blank">IPS</a>) – The U.S.-led invasion and then occupation of Iraq brought a sharp setback to the rights of women in that country, UNFPA head Thoraya Obaid tells IPS in an interview.</b> </p> <p>The view that Muslim societies are necessarily backward on the position of women arises from stereotyping, she says. And she speaks of herself as a Muslim woman who does not fit the stereotype. </p> <p>Obaid spoke to IPS Wednesday at the launch of the annual UNFPA report, focused this year on the role of women in peace building. Excerpts from the interview: </p> <p><strong>Q: Is there any evidence that women are better than men at peace building and rebuilding? </strong></p> <p>A: There is evidence that not only in peace building and rebuilding but in other areas as with migrant workers, the priorities for women are usually different. As a result women invest in the family, and during conditions where there is war or natural disaster, you will find that women can even cross borders to be able to keep the family together, and are able to negotiate the safety of their families. So in that context we see that women should be a part of any peace building negotiations. </p> <p><strong>Q: Women can play that role when they have an opportunity, but is there any sign that women are getting more such opportunities? </strong></p> <p>A: Sadly, no. Opportunities are still limited because the recognition that women can play that role is still limited. We are saying that if we invest enough in women, in their education, in empowering them to have a voice, to raise their voice, and if we recognise their voices and find space for them to play a role in peace building, then they will do a good job. </p> <p>Liberia is a very good example of that. It’s women who walk the streets saying we want peace. But society still does not recognise the real value of women, and that is a real problem. </p> <p><strong>Q: There is a widespread perception that the position of women in Islamic societies is low. But in Iraq women had many rights, that vanished after the Americans came along. </strong></p> <p>A: I worked in Iraq for eight years until the invasion of Kuwait. We were there as a part of the Economic Commission for Western Asia, and we worked with women’s groups there at that time, and certainly, by the time we left the Federation of Iraqi Women had put together the best family laws you can get from all the different sects, and also labour laws. But then the invasion came and the whole thing went apart. </p> <p>When the U.S. came in, they went back to the family laws of 1958. That tells you how far they have gone back. What they did was to cancel everything that was previous. And that is not really a good judgment for women. It was quite a bit of difference. </p> <p><strong>Q: How does this square with the perception that left to themselves, Muslim societies are backward, and that the U.S is the progressive one? </strong></p> <p>A: That is a political question in many ways. There are stereotypes of Muslim countries, and Muslim women. I’m a Muslim woman, and I don’t fit that stereotype. There are many like me. I come from Saudi Arabia, and see where I am right now. This is the stereotyping of a people and also of a religion, and as a result assumptions are based on such perceptions. In many ways it is perceptions that hinder Muslim women in many places. </p> <p><strong>Q: Is the U.N. making a difference, or does it just produce reports? </strong></p> <p>A: Look at the report we are putting out on Security Council resolution 1325. This has brought the issue of women as peace makers and peace builders into a higher level of political awareness. As a result, at least 19 countries are putting into place their own plans on how to bring women to end violence against women in wars, conflict and natural disasters, in camps and so on. These studies are important because they mobilise political leaders and I think that is a very important role for the United Nations. </p> <p><strong>Q: What does this report say that is significant and new? </strong></p> <p>A: The new trend we are trying to bring into the discussion about women is the three R’s – Resilience, Renewal, and Redefining roles. Women are always seen as victims. We are saying women are not victims. Women have the resilience, they keep the families together. And with renewal, when we are rebuilding after a crisis, we should not rebuild society as it was before, with all the inequalities and inequities in it, but on a new human rights paradigm that will bring equality. </p> <p><strong>Q: How can the MDGs targets be met in relation to conflicts? </strong></p> <p>A: A part of conflicts is poverty, and poverty brings conflict. So MDG 1 on poverty cannot be achieved if there is no peace and security. Each of the MDGs requires peace and security. </p> <p>And with MDG5 on maternal health, for a long time actors in the humanitarian field did not recognise that women have special needs. In war and natural disasters, they do deliver babies, they do have biological functions that require special attention. There is a need to take care of their integrity and their dignity. So we are looking at MDG 5 because we want women to deliver babies in a clean state, and that they are safe. </p> <p>More importantly [is] that they are protected from violence – when violence takes place, that they are provided with the services that support them but also that perpetrators of violence are brought to justice. Violence against women is part of the MDG5 target on universal access to reproductive health. </p> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=53232" class="external" target="_blank">Q&A: What the U.S. Undid for Women in Iraq – IPS ipsnews.net</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-9763"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/04/12/reports-prompt-aid-for-iraqi-women/#respond" title="Comment on Reports Prompt Aid for Iraqi Women">No Comments</a></span> Posted on April 12th, 2010 by Fatima Jameel</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/04/12/reports-prompt-aid-for-iraqi-women/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Reports Prompt Aid for Iraqi Women">Reports Prompt Aid for Iraqi Women</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/al-anbar-governorate/" rel="tag">Al Anbar (Governorate)</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/children/" rel="tag">Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/destitute-women/" rel="tag">destitute women</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/disadvantaged-women/" rel="tag">disadvantaged women</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/extremists/" rel="tag">Extremists</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/fallujah/" rel="tag">Fallujah</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/health/" rel="tag">Health</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-women/" rel="tag">iraqi women</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iwpr/" rel="tag">IWPR</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/ramadi/" rel="tag">Ramadi</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/sabah-al-ani/" rel="tag">Sabah Al-Ani</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/security-checkpoints/" rel="tag">security checkpoints</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/social-welfare/" rel="tag">social welfare</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/suicide-bombers/" rel="tag">suicide bombers</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/suicide-bombing/" rel="tag">suicide bombing</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/widows/" rel="tag">Widows</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/widows-lack-of-funding/" rel="tag">widows - lack of funding</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/women-suicides/" rel="tag">Women - suicides</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/women-social-position-of/" rel="tag">Women -social position of</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <blockquote><p>Authorities in Anbar pledge to do more for disadvantaged women following IWPR reports on their plight. By Uthman al-Mukhtar in Fallujah. </p> <p>The provincial council has launched a women’s committee that will meet weekly with female Anbar residents, and has already provided jobs, free healthcare, financial aid and legal support for two widows featured in IWPR’s reports.</p> <p>Rabiyaa Nael, a provincial council member who serves on the committee, said IWPR’s reports on widows in Anbar had pushed the council to address the needs of women. The council had created a women’s committee but it did not meet until March, after the Anbar provincial council office passed along IWPR’s reports to council members.</p> <p>The committee is tasked with providing support for women and, Nael said, that after reading IWPR’s reports, the provincial council decided to formally launch it to “solve and understand women’s issues in the province”.</p> <p>"We had a committee to address women’s issues, but it was not activated until the Anbar provincial council’s media office sent us a copy of IWPR’s reports,” she said. </p> <p>Experts interviewed for IWPR Iraq’s report <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://www.iwpr.net/index.php?apc_state=hen&s=o&o=l=EN&p=icr&s=f&o=360085" class="external" target="_blank">Impoverished Women Vulnerable to Extremists</a>  warned that war-ravaged Anbar’s destitute women – many of them widows – could fall prey to promises of money, revenge and martyrdom from extremists intent on destabilising Iraq. </p> <p>Insurgent groups have used Iraqi women as suicide bombers to attack public institutions, markets and security checkpoints. </p> <p>The report followed another IWPR story <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://iwpr.net/?p=icr&s=f&o=358721&apc_state=heniicr2010" class="external" target="_blank">Widows Silent Victims of Ramadi Attacks</a> which featured female victims of a devastating truck bombing in Anbar.  Dozens of poor widows and mothers were queuing to receive their benefits when the suicide bomber struck. </p> <p>Thirty-year-old Anbar resident Halema Hashem, a widowed mother of four, was among the victims interviewed for the IWPR piece.  Provincial council committee members contacted her as well as another widow featured by IWPR, Elaf Muhammed, after reading the stories. </p> <p>Muhammed secured a job, legal aid and healthcare through the provincial council after meeting with Nael in late March. Nael, who gave her 300 US dollars, also quickly arranged a job interview for her at a sewing factory, where she recently began working. </p> <p>Muhammed, 31, says the job will allow her to keep her three children. Her late husband’s family threatened to take custody of the children in part because she could not support them. The provincial council also promised to provide Muhammed with free legal aid if she faces a custody battle. </p> <p>She said she was grateful to IWPR for writing about her life as a widow and said her life had “changed for the better”. </p> <p>Meeting with Nael “is a big change”, she said. “Being heard is more important than money.” </p> <p>The provincial council also sent a case worker from Anbar’s social welfare department to visit Hashem and raised her monthly government benefit from 100,000 to 175,000 dinars (85 to 145 dollars). They also provided Hashem, who is still suffering from injuries sustained in the bombing, with free medicine. </p> <p>“We are quite serious about stopping the bad guys from manipulating women’s suffering," Nael said. </p> <p>Sabah Al-Ani, general director of Anbar’s psychological health department, said the IWPR stories broke new ground, as this was the “first time that women’s issues in Anbar have been tackled in such depth. </p> <p>“Journalists in Anbar don’t pay attention to women’s issues and their rights because they are part of a society that believes that women were created only to serve men and do housework.” </p> <p>The stories, he went on, focused “on their personal situation and gave them the chance to speak for themselves, instead of their parents, brothers, or uncles [speaking for them]. It is unusual to have private conversation and talk freely with [women in Anbar]”. </p> <p>Ani said the report inspired him to “urge journalists and media activists to act more bravely by covering [women’s] issues in the media, with the hope of prompting change”. </p> <p>Firas Sami, a parliamentary candidate for with Iraqiya coalition in Anbar, said the IWPR stories gave weight to an Iraqiya report addressing widows’ issues which was submitted to parliament earlier this year.  “The stories reflect reality by portraying the women as real, hopeless victims,” he said. </p> <p><strong>Uthman al-Mukhtar is an IWPR-trained journalist in Fallujah.</strong></p> </blockquote> <p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://www.iwpr.net/report-news/reports-prompt-aid-iraqi-women" class="external" target="_blank">Reports Prompt Aid for Iraqi Women | IWPR Institute for War & Peace Reporting</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="post clearfix" id="post-8932"> <div class="postmetadata"><span class="comments"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/03/04/iraqi-women-pursuing-more-political-say/#respond" title="Comment on Iraqi women pursuing more political say">No Comments</a></span> Posted on March 4th, 2010 by Yusuf Al-Jezani</div> <h3><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/2010/03/04/iraqi-women-pursuing-more-political-say/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Iraqi women pursuing more political say">Iraqi women pursuing more political say</a></h3> <p class="postmetadata">Category: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/category/english-articles/" title="View all posts in English Language Articles" rel="category tag">English Language Articles</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/category/features/" title="View all posts in Features" rel="category tag">Features</a>, Tags: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/baghdad-university/" rel="tag">Baghdad University</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/children/" rel="tag">Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/childrens-rights/" rel="tag">Children's Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/constitution/" rel="tag">Constitution</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/corruption/" rel="tag">Corruption</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/diwaniya/" rel="tag">Diwaniya</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/election-campaign/" rel="tag">election campaign</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/fundamentalists/" rel="tag">fundamentalists</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/human-trafficking/" rel="tag">Human Trafficking</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/iraqi-women/" rel="tag">iraqi women</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/mahmoud-al-mashhadani/" rel="tag">Mahmoud al-Mashhadani</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/maysun-al-damaluji/" rel="tag">Maysun al-Damaluji</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/orphans/" rel="tag">Orphans</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/poverty/" rel="tag">Poverty</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/poverty-alleviation/" rel="tag">poverty alleviation</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/widows/" rel="tag">Widows</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/women-social-position-of/" rel="tag">Women -social position of</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/women-and-children/" rel="tag">Women and Children</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/women-in-politics/" rel="tag">Women in politics</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/women-in-politics-25-quota/" rel="tag">Women in politics - 25% quota</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/womens-rights/" rel="tag">Women's Rights</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a3%d9%8a%d8%aa%d8%a7%d9%85/" rel="tag">الأيتام</a>, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/tag/%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a7%d9%8a%d8%aa%d8%a7%d9%85/" rel="tag">الايتام</a></p> <div class="entry" dir="rtl" align="right"> <p>BAGHDAD, March 3 (<a title="Xinhua" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/indepth/2010-03/03/c_13195695.htm" class="external" target="_blank">Xinhua</a>) — Iraqi women will hopefully expand their political influence in the future as the next parliament is to include more female representatives, compared with the current term.</p> <p>The to-be-elected 325-seat Iraq’s Council of Representatives, or the national legislature, will have one quarter of its members women, as does the current 275-seat one, according to its Constitution. Women should account for at least the same percentage of the total of candidates for each political bloc contesting the election.</p> <p>According to electoral organizers, 6,200 candidates, including 1,800 women, will stand in the election to be held on Sunday. Around 19 million Iraqis are eligible to vote, with women accounting for more than a half.</p> <p>But despite all these good prospects, women still have a long and tough way to go to achieve their goals as they face much more obstacles and difficulties than men in this country.</p> <h3>TOUGH CAMPAIGN</h3> <p>"My election campaign is modest, because I don’t have enough money to make a large campaign via satellite channels or other media," said Hiyam Hammad Ghazi, a candidate with the Iraqi Unity Coalition — a political bloc headed by Interior Minister Jawad al- Bolani.</p> <p>It is the second time for Ghazi to stand in the election. She failed in the 2005 parliamentary poll.</p> <p>"This time I feel like I want to do it again, not for money or anything else, only because I have been working as a political, cultural and social activist since 2003," said the Shiite Arab candidate, who has been busy meeting voters in several places in Baghdad and try to reach more people in recent days</p> <p>Owning an advertisement company in Baghdad, 42-year-old Ghazi comes from Diwaniya, capital of southern Qadisiya province. Her husband is a university teacher and media worker. She is a member of the country’s National Society for Protecting Consumers and of the Hunting Club in Mansur District in the capital. The club is most popular among educated and middle class people in the country.</p> <p>"All of my family members and friends are helping me with the campaign. If my political bloc wins seats in the parliament, then certainly I will win a seat for the women quota of my bloc," said Ghazi, with full confidence that good luck will accompany her this time.</p> <p>She admits that it is hard for a woman to win a seat alone without the quota, because Iraqi society is strongly dominated by men and people are still skeptical about whether a woman is able to do what a man does. "We should notice some biased social norms and restrictions against women although Iraqi law entitles women to take part in all aspects of life," said Ghazi. "So the problem is with the society, which should accept the participation of women in politics and other aspects of life."</p> <p>In addition to obstacles of social norms, security situation featuring a recent surge of violence ahead of the election is not favorable for their campaign. In early February, a female Sunni candidate was shot dead after leaving her relatives’ house in Mosul, capital of northern ethnically mixed, volatile Neineva Province.</p> <h3>GOOD BEGINNING</h3> <p>In the current parliament, women lawmakers have struggled to express their opinions and worked hard to push forward legislation regarding the protection of women and children’s rights and interests.</p> <p>"I think in the past four years women have shown an outstanding performance in the parliamentarian activities," said Maysoun al- Damaloji, a current female lawmaker seeking reelection. "We have been active in monitoring the government, visiting prisons and in the relations with non-governmental organizations (NGO) and media. "</p> <p>"I don’t think their (women lawmakers’) role was less than that of men," stressed Damaloji, also editor-in-chief of Noon, a most popular magazine focusing on women’s rights in the country. She worked as deputy chairman of a committee in charge of NGO affairs in the parliament.</p> <p>Damaloji, from Mosul, joins the cross-sectarian Iraqiya List alliance, headed by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. The alliance is widely regarded as a strong rival against the State of Law bloc headed by Primer Minister Nuri Al-Maliki.</p> <p>Citing an example of the successes of women lawmakers, Damaloji said women were the first to sign the resignation of former parliament speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani because of his inappropriate behaviors with women. Mashhadani resigned in December 2008. His feisty character invited criticism among lawmakers.</p> <p>"If you look at the list of those who signed, you will find the first 50 signatures were those of female lawmakers," said Damaloji. </p> <p>Another victory in which women feel great pride is the suspension of a planned legislation on religious leaders’ authority over some domestic matters. A controversial article of Iraq’s Constitution requires the drafting of such a law. But with strong opposition from women lawmakers, social groups and some other politicians, the legislation has been suspended.</p> <p>Women lawmakers have also pushed to pass some important laws for the benefit of Iraqi women and children, in addition to the signing of protocols on prohibition of using children in armed conflicts and of human trafficking.</p> <p>"In order not to be marginalized, women have been doing their best. The most important achievement of women in the current parliament is that they have opened the doors wide for the successors," said Damaloji.</p> <h3>LONG WAY AHEAD</h3> <p>Another good sign for women is that among the dozens of Iraqi ministries, there have been a few headed by women, such as the environment and human rights ministries. Despite all the progress, women still have a long way to go to become more influential in the country’s political arena.</p> <p>"We have seen a lot of obstacles in our work in the parliament, because we felt that there was discrimination against women," said Damaloji.</p> <p>"For example, when we wanted to express our opinions, they sometimes didn’t give us the chance, and in some arguments some politicians used unacceptable and immoral ways to prevent us from talking," she said.</p> <p>In addition, not all the women in the parliament are working for women issues, some just became lawmakers because of the quota requirement, said Damaloji.</p> <p>Mohammed Naji, professor of politics at Baghdad University, said all lawmakers were more or less affected by sectarian divides which prevail in the current parliament.</p> <p>He said "I can say that we have two kinds of women lawmakers, some are female fundamentalists, that is, Islamists, while others are forced to stick to the decisions of their political blocs, because they are members of these."</p> <p>"I believe they mainly spent the first two years learning. During the second two, they have been doing better, but not enough, " Naji added.</p> <p>The political analyst said more capable women will be elected thanks to the open list system in which voters can vote for a specific candidate according to their own criteria and the quality of the candidates.</p> <p>Naji said "We are looking forward to a bigger role of Iraqi women in the coming years, because the more rights women can get from educational, administrative and economic activities, the more chances they will have to make a change in their future."</p> <p>If reelected, Damaloji said she will call for bolstering NGOs as a link between the government and society for poverty alleviation, economic growth, law reforms and anti-corruption."</p> <p>"We will work to form laws in social insurance and medical care for the vulnerable and marginalized groups in Iraqi society, including widows, orphans, the disabled, displaced and retired people," she said.</p> <p>Years of war, sanctions and violence since the early 1980s have made Iraqi women suffer the most. It is estimated the country has at least 1 million widows and 5 million children without fathers.</p> <p>Many women in the county have lower levels of education, and higher rates of poverty and unemployment than men.</p> <p>"There is no enough awareness among Iraqis about the menace of the issues like proliferation of widows, orphans and poverty to the future of Iraq," said lawmaker Damaloji.</p> <p>"We need to enhance the role of Iraqi women in creating peace and national integrity and developing our society. Iraqi women must take part in building a new Iraq," she said.</p> <p>Ghazi said if she wins, her priorities are to take care of education and the vital economic sector in dire need of investment.</p> <p>"The most important thing is the economy, as improvement in this sector will help resolve the problems of Iraqi women, by helping widows and vulnerable people," she said.</p> <p>Naji said they (women lawmakers) are working hard, but there will be a long way ahead. "As we know, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step," he added. </p> <p><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/indepth/2010-03/03/c_13195695.htm" class="external" target="_blank">Iraqi women pursuing more political say</a></p> </div> </div> <hr/> <div class="navigation"> <div class="alignleft"></div> <div class="alignright"></div> </div> </div> <div id="sidebar" class="span-10 last"> <div class="span-10" id="tabs"> <ul> <li class="ui-tabs-nav-item"><a href="#featured-articles">Featured Articles</a></li> <li class="ui-tabs-nav-item"><a href="#latest-articles">Latest Articles</a></li> </ul> <div id="featured-articles" class="widget"> <ul> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130125164930/http://gorillasguides.com/2012/04/19/hezbollah-says-latest-bombings-in-iraq-thwart-mission-to-build-state/">Hezbollah says latest bombings in Iraq “thwart mission to build state”</a></li> <li><a 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