BAGDHAD, Iraq – On March 6, US-based Women for Women international released a report, which said that since the US-led invasion, the state of Iraqi women has become a “national crisis.”  The report interviewed 1500 Iraqi women. Two-thirds of the women interviewed said violence against them had increased since the U.S. led invasion.

The same organization released a similar report in 2004.  At that time, despite the fact that most women interviewed felt their families were not receiving their basic needs, over ninety percent were optimistic about the future.  The 2007 report found that only twenty-seven percent continued to be optimistic about the future of Iraq.

Women for Women’s CEO, Zainab Salbi, said “It has been five years since the American invasion of Iraq and while the mistakes made there continue to accumulate still no-one has stopped to listen to what this critical mass of the population, women, have to say about solving the problems.”

For more information, please see:
Reuters – IRAQ: Minister Leads Call to End Violence Against Women – 10 March 2008

Tehran Times – ‘National Crisis’ for Iraqi Women – 9 March 2008

CNN – ‘National Crisis’ for Iraqi Women – 6 March 2008