Reports on women and sexual violence in Iraq
Title: Background on Women's Status in Iraq Prior to the Fall of the Saddam Hussein Government
Organisation: Human Rights Watch
Date: November 2003
This report looks at the status of Iraqi women prior to 2003. It finds that, historically, Iraqi women and girls have enjoyed relatively more rights than many of their counterparts in the Middle East; however, since the 1991 Gulf War, the position of women within Iraqi society had deteriorated rapidly.
Links: Download this report from the organisation's website
Download this report from the universal jurisdiction archive
Title: Climate of Fear: Sexual Violence and Abduction of Women and Girls in Baghdad
Organisation: Human Rights Watch
Date: July 2003
This report is based on interviews with rape and abduction victims and witnesses, Iraqi police and health professionals, and U.S. military police and civil affairs officers; HRW learned of twenty-five credible allegations of rape or abduction. The report found that police officers gave low priority to allegations of sexual violence and abduction, that the police were under-resourced, and that victims of sexual violence confronted indifference and sexism from Iraqi law enforcement personnel. The report also found that U.S. military police were not filling the gap when Iraqi police were unwilling or unable to conduct serious investigations of sexual violence and abduction. This report concludes that the failure of Iraqi and U.S.-led occupation authorities to provide public security in Iraq's capital lies at the root of a widespread fear of rape and abduction among women and their families.
Links: Download this report from the organisation's website
Download this report from the universal jurisdiction archive
