From the Guardian
Unlimited (UK)
Dated Saturday October 11
Crime puts Iraqi women under house arrest
Our correspondent in Baghdad finds the city's female population crushed by the lawlessness under US occupation
By Suzanne Goldenberg
Amina is putting her beauty salon up for sale. She has recovered from the episode last June when armed men burst in and robbed her clients of cash and jewellery, and she has learned to live with the gunfights that erupt with regularity at the coffee shop next door.
But within the space of a month, she says her teenage apprentice narrowly escaped abduction, a customer was held at gunpoint in another kidnapping attempt, and one of her regulars was dragged away by the hair and gang raped.
Such is the pace of events in post-war Baghdad, where the US occupation has ushered in an explosive rise in crime which has wreaked havoc on once genteel areas, and driven women indoors.
Amid the ordinary lawlessness of a city of 5 million with a barely functioning police force, there are particular horrors for women. The last few months have seen the emergence of organised crime, trafficking in drugs and stolen cars - and, the evidence suggests, in women as well.
Read more.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
