LSE Women, Peace and Security blog – War is not the only violence shaping women’s experiences in Iraq

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  • War is not the only violence shaping women’s experiences in Iraq

    Then there is the next layer; Patriarchy. It is probably this layer, above all, that shapes women’s experiences of conflict. Iraq is deeply patriarchal, with this permeating all aspects of women’s lives. Patriarchy permits violence in households; the beatings taking place in crammed tents shared by numerous family members. Women speak of husbands being more aggressive since displacement. They tell me about extreme violence; punching, burning, whipping.

    It creates impossible situations for women whose men are absent because of war; be they killed, enlisted, boated to Europe or merely disappearing. I’ve heard stories of husbands divorcing wives by text message. Or husbands selling their family tents for money for passage to Europe, leaving wives and children on the roadside. Patriarchal norms make these women vulnerable – unable to find work in a male dominated public space, subjects of swirling gossip by a frustrated population.

    Religion forms another layer. In the camps, one hears of ‘two-day marriages’ – marriages convened, then divorced by prior arrangement, allowing a man to enjoy intercourse with a girl while married, and hence with religious legitimation, in exchange for funds being paid to her family.

    So too, the sexual violence perpetrated by ISIS towards Yezidi girls has been shaped by religion, with ISIS’ rape carried out in the context of strictly regulated slavery arrangements, performed in keeping with clearly elaborated edicts, allowing rape to not violate their version of religious rules. Yezidi girls report their captors would pray before raping them, talking of their acts as exercise of religious duty.

    Finally, add the layer of Poverty. A lack of resources underpins all aspects of displaced life. A Syrian refugee told me, “When there is no money, my husband is violent to me, and I am violent to my children. Nothing else will work unless you fix this problem.” High levels of illiteracy, a lack of marketable skills and the distances of camps to cities, make it hard for women to earn a livelihood. Yet Culture plays a role here too – many women are not permitted by their families to leave the camps to work. For reasons of Culture jobs are primarily given to men.

    http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/wps/2017/06/15/war-is-not-the-only-violence-shaping-womens-experiences-in-iraq

    #violence #femmes #Irak #IDPs #déplacés_internes #exil #asile #migrations #réfugiés #patriarcat #guerre #conflit #vulnérabilité #religion #viols #ISIS #EI #Etat_islamique #pauvreté