A victim of rape in Iraq has tried to go against the social custom of suffering mutely but instead has jeopardized her life. She has openly condemned the Iraqi police of sexually molesting her.
This is not the first time a criminal case has been framed against the Iraqi officials. A number of organizations have acknowledged sexualized torture as a part of Iraqi prison.
According to Iraqi human rights advocate and writer Haifa Zangana, the first question asked of female detainees in Iraq is, Are you Sunni or Shia? The second is, Are you a virgin?
It’s no surprise that we’re hearing allegations of rape against the Iraqi National Police, considering who trained them. DynCorp, the private contractor that the Bush Administration hired to prepare Iraq’s new police force for duty, has an ugly record of violence against women.
The Bush Administration has refused to protect women’s rights in Iraq. In fact, it has decisively traded women’s rights for cooperation from the Islamists it has helped boost to power. Torture of women by police recruits armed, trained, and funded with US tax dollars is one symptom of this broader crisis.
