Iraq War Women

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The Toll the War in Iraq Makes on its Women The Toll the War in Iraq Makes on its Women Christine DiMare March 25, 2012 The Toll the War in Iraq Makes on its Women The war in Iraq has brought more than devastation to just the landscape or the loss of its men. War also devastates the lives of Iraqi women. War makes widows, childless middle-aged women, and some are being sold for sex. Typically, Iraqi couples are married at age seventeen – eighteen for men and fourteen to seventeen for women (Iraq, 2012). However, the war in Iraq has cost Iraqi women their husbands more than one can imagine. The war has left it hard enough to lose a husband, when they have one, but many Iraqi women are left to become…show more content…
Human trafficking in the form of forced prostitution and labor has existed in Iraq long before the Iraqi war (Heartland Alliance, 2007). Victims of trafficking since the 2003 invasion and civil war have seen an increase in women who are transported to neighboring countries. As well, those women who come to Iraq from the Philippines, Nepal, Bangladesh and other countries where poverty is widespread are at risk of trafficking. Iraq has laws against trafficking; however, the internal conflict has caused the breakdown of such laws. The Iraqi constitution forbids forced labor, kidnapping, slavery and slave trade, trafficking of women and children, and the sex trade of either. The government of Iraq ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) to protect women and children. Nevertheless, the government has, without a doubt, failed to prevent abuses and to punish the offenders (Heartland Alliance,…show more content…
There are many factors that contribute to the rise of sex trafficking and prostitution in Iraq: the United States-led war and the chaos it has generated by it; the lack of the law being enforced instills the growing insecurity; corruption of the government and those in power; the upsurge in religious extremism; poor economy; pressure of women to marry; discrimination against women and gender-based violence; kidnappings of girls and women; the protection perpetrators receive for of their crimes, especially crimes against women; and the globalization of new technologies associated with the sex industry (Murray,
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