Tag Archive for "Iraq War"

Posts Tagged Iraq War

4000 women run for office in Iraq

In an effort for women to regain footing in Iraqi government and decision-making, it has become a requirement for every 3rd elected seat in Iraq to be held by a woman. As a result, 4000 women will be running in this year’s election.

Nibras al-Mamuri is a secular female candidate who argues that fundamentalists have taken over the country. She says it was the 2005 elections that brought them into power and tarnished Islam’s image in Iraq.
Al-Mamuri, who is running for the Baghdad provincial council, says it’s time for a change.

As we have discussed before and as the article concludes, the US-led invasion of Iraq has made conditions for women worse.

In recent years, Iraqi women have been targeted ...

In an effort for women to regain footing in Iraqi government and decision-making, it has become a requirement for every 3rd elected seat in Iraq to be held by a woman. As a result, 4000 women ...

By Courtney • 15 years ago

Domestic Violence in Military Families

I was glad to see that the New York Times is continuing their important coverage of veteran issues, especially when it comes to violence stateside. Sunday they ran a story about the Army’s major domestic violence problem.
This piece continued their commitment to reporting on the ways in which veterans’ families have born the brunt of much of their PTSD problems. In February, they gave a deep and broad view of the emotional and physical violence characterizing so many families lives when a loved one returns from war. Prior to the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Pentagon had committed to revamping the military response to domestic violence (there has been a rash of “wife-killings” that prompted response). ...

By Samhita • 15 years ago

Women at war in Iraq.

There are many misperceptions about the role of women in the Iraq war. We have written about the role and rate of sexual violence in the military and this is an interesting radio interview with a several women that have served in the Iraq war. It goes into the role of women in the military and in combat, specifically debunking the assumption that women don’t engage in combat or security. It also includes a call from a listener who asks if we as Americans want “our” women having the potential threat of being POWs and what that means to which Kristen Holmstedt replies that she doesn’t feel women’s bodies are any more valuable as POW’s as men’s. I think this ...

By Samhita • 15 years ago

Veteran’s Day Special: We love our soldiers so much, they too have to pay for their own rape kits

Sorry to conflate two issues, because in the same breath that I was going to post something for Veteran’s Day to remind us of the soldiers in Iraq and that we must hold a new administration accountable to get them the fuck out, this article popped up on my screen, and, well, it is really not cool.
We were outraged to find out Palin allowed rape victims to be charged for their own rape kits, but we didn’t know she learned how to do it from the Pentagon. According to Penny Coleman at Alternet, TRICARE, the Pentagon’s healthcare plan doesn’t cover rape kits either.

Currently, forensic examinations are not covered for beneficiaries in civilian health care facilities through TRICARE medical ...

By Sharkfu • 15 years ago

Notes from a bitch…

This Veteran’s Day I am remembering one of the thousands of women who served.
Pfc. LaVena Johnson was killed on July 19, 2005 in Iraq.
The cause of her death is still being questioned.
Her murder and the lack of information about it touch more than just those of us from her hometown.
As the nation pauses in remembrance this Veteran’s Day let us not forget.
In our excitement over the hope inspired by our recent election…may we not lose sight of the questions still in need of answers.
And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful ...

By Samhita • 15 years ago

Quick Hit: Top Female Afghani police assassinated

For a woman to be a high ranking police chief in Afghanistan is in fact a profound statement and considerable gain for women. So it is a statement that the Taliban assassinated one of the top female police officers in the country. An anti-woman statement.

The police officer, Malalai Kakar, who was in her mid-40s with six children, was an iconic figure among women’s groups in Afghanistan and abroad. Often profiled in the Afghan and foreign news media, she was one of the leading totems for the wider freedoms gained by women when the Taliban, with their repressive policies toward women, were ousted from power by an American-led coalition in 2001.

For a woman to be a high ranking police chief in Afghanistan is in fact a profound statement and considerable gain for women. So it is a statement that the Taliban assassinated one of the top ...

By Ann • 15 years ago

House hears testimony on military sexual assault

Yesterday the House held a hearing on sexual assault in the military, a topic we’ve written on repeatedly. Not just the insanely and disturbingly high rates of sexual assault, but the effect is has on female vets.
Rep. Louise Slaughter reintroduced the Military Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Act, which would establish an Office of Victims Advocate within the Department of Defense and hopefully improve efforts to respond to cases of sexual violence and harassment in the military.
At the hearing, sexual assault survivor Ingrid Torres testified. What an incredibly brave woman:

“The road after sexual assault is a long and challenging one. As is typical of violent crime, I suffer from PTSD, ...

Yesterday the House held a hearing on sexual assault in the military, a topic we’ve written on repeatedly. Not just the insanely and disturbingly high rates of sexual assault, but the effect ...

By Samhita • 15 years ago

15 percent of women in the military have suffered sexual trauma.

Sexualized violence comes with the territory of war. It is an age old tactic and also a byproduct of the pressure of war and the insistence on overt misogyny. So it is no surprise that according to the AP 15 percent of women that have served have experienced some form of sexual trauma. That shouldn’t make it any less revolting.

Of the women veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan who have walked into a VA facility, 15 percent have screened positive for military sexual trauma, The Associated Press has learned. That means they indicated that while on active duty they were sexually assaulted, raped, or were sexually harassed, receiving repeated unsolicited verbal or physical contact of a sexual nature.

Rape is clearly not ...