Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

"Report From Baghdad" Part Four--Women in Iraq

Lee Siu Hin | 18.09.2003 09:06 | Analysis | Anti-militarism | Repression

This is a part four of the six-part series "Report form Baghdad" by Pacifica Radio KPFK Los Angeles Reporter Lee Siu Hin's July 2003 trip to U.S. occupied Iraq, to commemorate 6-months commemoration of U.S. invasion of Iraq (Sep 20), and to understand the future of Iraq.

To view the entire series, please visit:
 http://www.actionla.org/Iraq/IraqReport/index.html

Women in Baghdad's Univeristy
Women in Baghdad's Univeristy


Part Four--Women in Iraq: Womens' Rights Are in Danger
By: Lee Siu hin

Another negative impact of the US-UK invasion has been to put women's rights in danger in the "new" Iraq.

"On May 22 around 4:00 P.M. at Baghdad, nine-year-old girl "saba", was adducted from the stairs of the building where she lives, taken to an abandoned building nearby, and raped..."
(Human Rights Watch Report: Climate of Fear, July 2003)

According to a Human Rights Watch report Climate of Fear published in July 2003, as a result of the invasion, women and girls face increased sexual violence and abduction, which was almost unheard of during Saddam Hussein's regime.

Elizabeth Hodgkin is Research Coordinator for Amnesty International in Baghdad. She says the violence against women and girls has created a state of fear, preventing them from being more active in the society. "It's certain women feel that now [after April], it is less safe for them on the street. There's been more killing; women feel more danger going back and forth from work and school, and participating in activities. Some girls have been withdrawn from school because their parents think it's unsafe in the streets," Hodgkin explains.

An accurate count of women and girls victimized by sexual violence is very difficult to ascertain since many do not report such cases or even seek medical attention, according to Human Rights Watch. While the U.S. troika - its occupying forces, the Coalition Provisional Authorities (CPA) it runs, and its de facto government in Iraq - is busy securing Iraq's natural resources and hunting Saddam Hussein, the public security vacuum in Baghdad has heightened the vulnerability of women and girls to sexual violence and abduction.

According to Hodgkin, there has been an acute rise in "honor killings" and domestic violence, once suppressed during the past regime, since the U.S. occupied Iraq last April. A woman becomes the victim of an "honor killing" when her family feels she has damaged their reputation by having sex with a man, or even just by going out with him. This dishonor "entitles" a male member of her family to "justifiably" murder her. "These crimes often go unreported, and even when they are reported, police rarely take any action. So a woman's life is expendable," Hodgkin explains.

According to an Amnesty International investigation, there have been many "honor killings" in Iraq, the vast majority of which are unreported. There have been no investigations of the people alleged to have carried out these murders. Police have made no arrests. Hodgkin explains further, "If you do find a situation where a woman may have been raped, no matter what the circumstances, she runs the risk of being murdered by a male relative if she admits the incident to a family member. So if you think there's a possibility that a woman has been raped, you'd never go to her family to investigate the crime for fear of putting her in more danger."

However, Hodgkin still remains optimistic about the role of women in the post-Saddam era. She says since April, there's been great boost of activity from all sectors in Iraqi society, including the formation of many civic and human rights organizations. Although women are underrepresented in these groups, Hodgkin reports there are organizations surfacing that have been formed by women and are run by women. "I think there is great hope for women's activism in the future. I think this is a period of transition, this is a period of change; [but] women are still unable to take their rightful position in the society."

It's not very difficult to see male-domination in Iraq, even though it's considered one of the most socially open secular countries in the region. When I interviewed people on the street, males always dominated the speech, and women always stood aside.

The rise of the Shi'ites in southern Iraq is affecting women's rights in the post-invasion period. Many worry that replacing Saddam's secular government with a fundamentalist Islamic government will undermine women's rights in the future Iraq. Hodgkin believes there must be positive efforts in every area to ensure that women do have positive positions. She says, for instance, in the Iraqi Interim Governing Council that was established in July, of the 25 members on the Council, only three are woman. Hodgkin believes there must be stronger efforts made to ensure the rights and the equality of women in the future constitution and governing body of Iraq.

Useful Links:
Human Rights Watch
 http://www.hrw.org

Amnesty International
Iraq: People Come First
 http://web.amnesty.org/pages/irq-index-eng

**************************************************************************************************
***"Report From Baghdad" CD-ROM on Sale!!***

Dear peace activists:

Pacifica Radio KPFK Los Angeles Reporter Lee Siu Hin's July 2003 trip to U.S. occupied Iraq. An interactive CD-ROM with articles, over 50 photos, and hours of audio & video interviews includes:

- People of Iraq, former Iraqi military commander, general manger of
- U.S. Military: interview at U.S. military base, and follow their patrol and raid in Baghdad;
- Human rights workers from UNICEF, Voice in the Wilderness, Amnesty International;
- Shi'ite and Sunni religious leaders from Baghdad, Fllujah, and more!

You can see part of the CD-ROM contents on our webpage:
 http://www.actionla.org/Iraq/IraqReport/index.html

Each CD costs: USD$15.00 plus USD$3.50 S/H (work both PC and Mac)
The CD sells will be benefit the Baghdad Independent Media Center, ActionLA, and PeaceNoWar.net
*Additional donations are welcome, and it will be tax deductible.

For more information, tel: (213)413-1778 e-mail:  info@ActionLA.org
URL: www.ActionLA.org  
        www.PeaceNoWar.net

Send check/money orders to:
ActionLA/SEE
1013 Mission St. #6, South Pasadena, CA 91030
U.S.A.

Sincerely

Lee Siu Hin
=============================================================
Peace, No War
War is not the answer, for only love can conquer hate
Not in our Name! And another world is possible!

Information for antiwar movements, news across the World, please visit:
 http://www.PeaceNoWar.net

Please Join PeaceNoWar Listserv, send e-mail to: mailto: peacenowar-subscribe@lists.riseup.net

*PeaceNoWar is an activist project of ActionLA
Action for World Liberation Everyday!
URL:  http://www.ActionLA.org
e-mail:  ActionLA@ActionLA.org

Please join our ActionLA Listserv

Lee Siu Hin
- e-mail: siuhin@aol.com
- Homepage: http://www.actionla.org/Iraq/IraqReport/index.html

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech