BySCEME
On The Underground Railroad for Iraqi Women
In February of this year, Al Jazeera reported on the rise of domestic violence against women in Iraq. Nine years after the U.S. – led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein, the United Nations reports up to one in five women suffers from domestic abuse and there has been difficulty in opening shelters outside of the Kurdistan area in Iraq, due to the influence of Islamist politics that has crept in post-invasion.
The Underground Railroad for Iraqi Women is a joint effort by MADRE and the Organization for Women’s Freedom in Iraq (OWFI); together they founded the first shelters in the non-Kurdish part of Iraq. The shelters are vital and in fact a lifeline to many women and girls who are escaping violence and threats against them. In addition to the immediate protection from violence, there is also a human rights training program, set up to empower women with the knowledge and the skills to demand their rights as equal and active citizens of society. It is the hope that through this network of women helping women, a positive force against the continuing repression and state sanctioned violence against women can be stopped.
Iraqi women had no doubt suffered greatly under Saddam Hussein’s brutal rule, wars, and years of economic sanctions. The deteriorating situation is now exacerbated by the lack of security and institutionalized violence, where the law protects the abusers, rather than the victims.
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