Sex Trafficking of Iraqi Women.
Exposing Its Cruel Secrets
Author: Carole Ditosti
Women and children are the first casualties of war. They are the innocents, they are the vulnerable. Couple war with the shortage of women in the Middle East and Asia and you have a seething hotbed ripe for slavery, kidnapping and sex trafficking. Call it what you will. Are the "victims" ever really willing, though they are forced to "be able?"
Since the Iraqi War, thousands of women have fallen prey to sex traffickers, but the issue steeped in secrecy, corruption, religious and cultural taboos and preoccupation with other more pressing problems has rendered it a non issue. In wartime, its aftermath and in the Middle East, even though there has been an Arab Spring, it is still "a man's world." And trafficking for men can be a boon, not a bust, unless, of course, one's wife, sister or daughter has been trafficked without profit. Then it becomes a point of honor, but the woman may be blamed and gotten rid of anyway. (see movie review, Bliss)
Social Change for Education in the Middle East (SCEME) is a non profit organization that "supports the rights and civil liberties of women and children in the Middle East and Africa through education and anti-trafficking campaigns." In a recent report, it has examined the impact of war on the cultural upheaval that was Iraq and has identified the epidemic of sex trafficking of Iraqi girls as young as 10 or 12 into Middle Eastern countries like Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, the UAR and Saudi Arabia.
There has been a tremendous hushed-mouthed secrecy surrounding the issue of trafficking and this is what drew Iman Abou-Atta, a clinical researcher to investigate the extent of Iraqi women's sexploitation. In a hearing before the House of Lords she presented the report entitled Karamatuna (Our Dignity) whose foreword states
"What I came across was closed doors, shame, the unwillingness of authorities of Syria and Jordan and the quietness of civil society on the issue."
According to some reports, over 50,000 Iraqi women fleeing Jordan and Syria to escape the war's chaos and aftermath, are trapped in sexual servitude with no possibility of escape. Because government restrictions prevent them from supporting themselves and their households, they have become the playthings of sex traffickers who take advantage of their vulnerability and helplessness.
Other trafficked women runaways, victimized by familial abuse, violence and threats of forced marriages, remain in Iraqi nightclubs or brothels the SCEME report says. And some of the Baghdad brothels "have been established purely to meet the demand created by United States service personnel."
The Organization for Women's Freedom in Iraq, estimates that about 4,000 women, many of them under 18, disappeared in the first seven years after the war. Because of the inability to chronicle the disappearances officially, it is thought that they were targeted by professional trafficking gangs nationally and internationally or sold into forced marriages to help out their families. (CNN)
The SCEME report specifically identifies varied examples of sexploitation brought on by the impoverishment of a broken culture. One example was of a 17-year-old girl whose father "sold" her into servitude for $200 a month to help her own family. For the money, she was to take care of the other man's ailing wife. Instead, the teen did all the housework and was coerced into having sexual intercourse with the "owner's" son and his friends. In another example a young woman was sold to an Iraqi gang by her prostitute mother after her father was killed. (Mail online)In such an environment of chaos there is money to be made and women are coerced and threatened because it is profitable, despite their will not to. Thus, kidnappings are rampant. Women, lacking mobility to escape their families are lured into taxis whose drivers entrap them with promises of help. Instead, they take them to brothels. Sometimes, gangs use attractive young men recruits to lure vulnerable young girls into "relationships" or elopement. Once they are in their power, they turn them over to the gang who sells them to the highest bidder for sexual service or continually exploits them through prostitution. (CNN)
Then there is the "mut'a" marriage, mostly practiced in Syria to help a family gain needed money. A girl is married off for a price to a man on a Friday, only for him to divorce her on the Sunday.
According to the SCEME report,
"Research suggests that the rates at which these mut'a marriages are carried out intensifies in the summer when male tourists visit Syria from the Gulf."
Though some countries have created laws against sexual trafficking, the enforcement has been weak. Women have not been protected and remain helpless in the face of hungry, aggressive males, half-hearted leaders and compliant, subservient females. No support centers have been set up: there are no shelters for women fleeing abusive family situations. There is no health care. There are no psychological supports for traumatized and stigmatized victims. Finally, there is no employment for them to claw their way out of the hole the various complicit men and compromising women have shoved them into.
Indeed, Abou-Atta has said employment for such women is almost non-existent across the region. That is why improved education and increased awareness are key factors in protecting future generations of women and girls. That and changing the religious assumptions that women who have been sexually coerced are themselves to blame for their wretched state.
But such change must be initiated by religious leaders who often demonize women, a convenient excuse to abet men who make lots of money off vulnerable women entrapped by their miserable situation.
Houzan Mahmoud works for the Organization for Women's Freedom in Iraq. Last year the group published its own report on prostitution in Iraq. Mahmoud who spoke at the hearing revealed the shocking information that the Iraqi government had opposed her group's work and tried to block its access to the media. (CNN)
"The problem is there's a demand for this, there's a market for this," said Mahmoud. "This is about money-making and profits."
For women to speak out and empower themselves threatens the money making schemes which are predicated upon violence, sexual exploitation and the eradication of women's self-hood which makes women pliable and submissive victims.
Too late. Notice has been given. Women are speaking out. This hearing was a step in the right direction.
*Photo courtesy of madre.org
Read more: http://technorati.com/women/article/sex-trafficking-of-iraqi-women-exposing/page-3/#ixzz1dkTN5Ytz
Jordan is the second-ranking destination for trafficked girls and women, according to the Nov. 9 report.
These two bordering countries have maintained a relatively liberal policy of granting visas to refugees while also subjecting them to labor restrictions. That combination, the report finds, puts girls and women at high risk of seeking money through prostitution and also being prostituted by families and organized networks.
"Both the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government have failed to address the problem of sex trafficking," the report finds, also noting that the Iraqi constitution prohibits the trafficking of women and children, as well as the sex trade and slavery.
Despite that, the study charges the Iraqi government with failing to identify and prosecute traffickers or to protect victims. Instead, the government "often punishes victims of trafficking for crimes committed as a direct result of being trafficked."
The study, "Karamatuna" or "Our Dignity" in Arabic, serves as the first stage of a project to measure the full extent of trafficking of Iraqi women and the way in which women are exploited. It analyzes existing literature and data collected by nongovernmental groups and international organizations. In the next stage, researchers will interview victims.
"What is stated within the pages of this report is just the tip of the iceberg," says Iman Abou-Atta, founder and director of Social Change. "We will continue to work to uncover more hidden truths; conduct vital field investigations; challenge authorities and spread awareness internationally so that the world can stand up against the trafficking of women and girls in the Arab world."
The report describes the plight of Leyla, an Iraqi refugee, last known to be living with her mother and brothers. "Prevented as refugees from working legally in the country (Syria), her family had run out of its savings. By the age of 14, her mother had forced her to work in a nightclub as a prostitute in order to generate income for the family."
While Syria and Jordan are the top-two sex-trafficking destinations, other countries in the region are also involved: Kuwait, Lebanon, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
"Our Dignity" finds that while chaos and anarchy have made all people more vulnerable to trafficking, women and girls have been most affected. "The neglect of authorities to deal with this problem effectively had fostered a state of impunity in which crimes against women are neglected and offenders go unpunished," it says.
