Women in Iraq

Attacks upon women in Basra are up since the withdrawal of British forces. They are killed in brutal fashion, all bearing signs of torture. When I came to Basra a year ago," Basra's police chief, Gen. Abdul Jalil Khalaf says, "two women were killed in front of their kids. Their blood was flowing in front of their kids, they were crying. Another woman was killed in front of her 6-year-old son, another in front of her 11-year-old child, and yet another who was pregnant."

The reasons for the killing vary. Some are ‘Honor killings’. Many are violations of Islamic teachings. No headscarf, or the wrong color of headscarf. Some were killed because they wore makeup. Some were "Politically active women, those who did not follow a strict dress code and women [who are] human rights defenders were increasingly at risk of abuses, including by armed groups and religious extremists," Amnesty said in a 2007 report.