Time Mag: Iraqi girls being forced into prostitution

[Captain Hilts]

I wonder what the Bush Administration has to say about all this 'good' we're accomplishing for women in Iraq:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1186519,00.html?promoid=rss_top

[TAPat]

1. Alas - Historically a common side effect of war.

Same shit, different day :(

[Warpy]

2. Also a side effect of patriarchy run amok

Young girls whose families can't add to a son's wealth are considered unmarriageable and have to earn their keep.

[NewJeffCT]

3. The Republicans will sell this

As free market capitalism...

[benburch]

4. The status of women in Iraq was quite good before we invaded.

They didn't have to wear veils or burkas. They could get advanced degrees. They could hold meaningful jobs. They could own property. They could vote.

Now, they live in the 12th century.

I hope the hell you have created catches up to you Mr. Bush. I hope it catches up to you soon. Damn you.

[FloridaPat]

5. They can still vote.

[benburch]

6. When the cameras are rolling, yes they can.

I have read that in many places they are forbidden from doing so unofficially.

[FloridaPat]

12. Hadn't read that, but I wouldn't be suprised.

[disidoro]

11. They did not have it good.

This pointless war has not advanced gender equity but they did NOT have it good. Iraqi women were and still are victims of the same fundementalism that pervades much of the Middle East. Rape, arranged marriages, forced servitude, ritualized beating and even honor killings just don't seem like a fortunate life to live. Women as a class are not and have not been honored or treated with equity. Your point is not valid.

Dan

[Jai4WKC08]

14. They had it better than most of the Arab world

You're right. It was not good. But it was better than a lot of places in the region, arguably better than it is now in Iraq, and God only knows how it will compare to what Iraq becomes if the Shi'a take over completely. So I think the point above has some validity.

I personally believe that Islam and the Arabs need to liberalize and accept Western influence, especially where gender equity is concerned. I am not one who considers all cultural values equally acceptable from a moral standpoint. I also think that Arab peoples will not be able to compete economically so long as they throw away essentially 50% of the talent within their populations.

But I do NOT think you can achieve the sort of change that's needed at the point of a gun (whether anyone in the Bush administration really wants to try is a different issue). Yes, we fought a war to end slavery. But the sexual slavery inherent in patriarchal societies is not the same thing. It takes a helluva long time change deep-seated attitudes. Even after our Civil War, it took 100 years to even begin to deal with racism -- we still have such a long way to go, and race is completely superficial compared to gender and the attitudes about sexuality that go with it.

[IndianaGreen]

16. Nonsense! Saddam and the Baathists had the religious wackos

under control. Women were doing fine in Iraq prior to US invasion, just as they do fine in Syria today, and did fine under the Marxists in Afghanistan.

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[benburch]

20. I think you are VERY misinformed.

Do some research. Go read Riverbend's blog.

[Poll_Blind]

7. Painting on tile:"Genocidal Rape" by Cynthia Aldrich

PB

[no_hypocrisy]

8. Who are the Johns? Perhaps the Coalition of the Willing, our military?

Because I would speculate that the religious fundamentalists would execute any woman who projected herself as a prostitute.

[libodem]

15. there is a similar thread somewhere

they are sold into brothels, to Syria, and other countries... what a mess. Last evening I listened to an NPR program with a speaker from Iraq. He said the women have it much worse now for jobs, education, and religion. They are wearing more veils and berquas now. The Madonna/whore complex at its most ugly incarnation. Back into burquea or off to the whorehouse. (sorry, berqua is not in spell check I'm embarrassed)

[cassiepriam]

21. Well who has cash money? Who has been away from home a long time?

Take some guesses.

[valerief]

9. It's Deja Vu-etnam all over again. n/t

[katinmn]

10. That's what happens when people are hungry

:-(

[leanin_green]

13. Same thing happened to South Vietamese women.

When you have that many Americans in country they become a part of the local economic make-up. Consider it a part of the exportation of American-style Democracy. The creation of new markets to meet new opportunities. Awww capitalism and free-markets, ain't it grand?

[Captain Hilts]

17. I'm not reading anything implicating US military...but contractors...

has anyone else seen anything from a credible source?

And this is one of those case where our lack of control/oversight of contractor behavior might hurt us as they are from the US too.

[leanin_green]

19. No arguement here. Still and American part of the equation, though. n/t

[WhiteTara]

18. Here's Human Rights Watch's take

http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/wrd/iraq-women.htm
Background on Women's Status in Iraq Prior to the Fall of the Saddam Hussein Government
November, 2003
Historically, Iraqi women and girls have enjoyed relatively more rights than many of their counterparts in the Middle East. The Iraqi Provisional Constitution (drafted in 1970) formally guaranteed equal rights to women and other laws specifically ensured their right to vote, attend school, run for political office, and own property. Yet, since the 1991 Gulf War, the position of women within Iraqi society has deteriorated rapidly. Women and girls were disproportionately affected by the economic consequences of the U.N. sanctions, and lacked access to food, health care, and education. These effects were compounded by changes in the law that restricted women's mobility and access to the formal sector in an effort to ensure jobs to men and appease conservative religious and tribal groups.

Women's Status in Iraq Prior to the 1991 Gulf War
After seizing power in 1968, the secular Ba'ath party embarked on a program to consolidate its authority and to achieve rapid economic growth despite labor shortages.1 Women's participation was integral to the attainment of both of these goals, and the government promulgated laws specifically aimed at improving the status of women in the public and-to a more limited extent-the private spheres.2 The status of Iraqi women has thus been directly linked to the government's over-arching political and economic policies.
snip
Women's Status in the Post-Gulf War Years
In the years following the 1991 Gulf War, many of the positive steps that had been taken to advance women's and girls' status in Iraqi society were reversed due to a combination of legal, economic, and political factors.22 The most significant political factor was Saddam Hussein's decision to embrace Islamic and tribal traditions as a political tool in order to consolidate power. In addition, the U.N. sanctions imposed after the war have had a disproportionate impact on women and children (especially girls).23 For example, the gender gap in school enrollment (and subsequently female illiteracy) increased dramatically due to families' financial inability to send their children to school. When faced with limited resources, many families chose to keep their girl children at home.24 According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), as a result of the national literacy campaign, as of 1987 approximately 75 percent of Iraqi women were literate; however, by year-end 2000, Iraq had the lowest regional adult literacy levels, with the percentage of literate women at less than 25 percent.25

the one two punch from the BFEE