Rape (and Silence About It) Haunts Baghdad

[I AM SPARTACUS]

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/16/international/worldspecial/16RAPE.html?hp

<snip...>
The breakdown of the Iraqi government after the war makes any crime hard to quantify. But the incidence of rape and abduction in particular seems to have increased, according to discussions with physicians, law-enforcement officials and families involved.

A new report by Human Rights Watch based on more than 70 interviews with law-enforcement officials, victims and their families, medical personnel and members of the coalition authority found 25 credible reports of abduction and sexual violence since the war. Baghdadis believe there are far more, and fear is limiting women's role in the capital's economic, social and political life just as Iraq tries to rise from the ashes, the report notes.

For most Iraqi victims of abduction and rape, getting medical and police assistance is a humiliating process. Deeply traditional notions of honor foster a sense of shame so strong that many families offer no consolation or support for victims, only blame.

Sanariya's four brothers and parents beat her daily, Fatin said, picking up a bamboo slat her father uses. The city morgue gets corpses of women who were murdered by their relatives in so-called honor killings after they returned from an abduction — even, in some cases, when they had not been raped, said Nidal Hussein, a morgue nurse.
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[flamingyouth]

1. Sick

A disgrace. Just another reason for me to hate that squatter in the White House, and all of his minions.

[umcwb]

2. Locking,

Dupe. Please continue your discussion here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=16298&mesg_id=16298&page=

Thanks,
UMCWB
DU LBN Moderator