Iraqi women

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UN Official: ISIS Demanding Female Genital Mutilation

Militant Sunni group issues fatwa, official says

(Newser) - A UN official in Iraq shared disturbing news with reporters today: ISIS militants have issued a religious edict declaring that all women in or around Mosul must undergo female genital mutilation, reports Reuters . The fatwa from the Sunni insurgents, who overtook the northern Iraqi city in June, applies to females...

Iraq Forces Torture, Rape Women Prisoners: Report

And they're often jailed for their husband's alleged crimes

(Newser) - Women in Iraq's prisons face beatings, electrical shocks, and sexual assault, among other horrors—and they're often detained for the actions of their male relatives, not their own, according to a new report from Human Rights Watch. Sometimes the abuses were carried out while those male relatives looked...

Iraq Confirms New Government
Iraq Confirms
New Government

Iraq Confirms New Government

Women protest heavily male nominations

(Newser) - Iraqi legislators ended 9 months of political deadlock today, unanimously approving a new government under incumbent prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, the AP reports. A March parliamentary election had left the country’s political future unclear; today, lawmakers chose 29 ministers to form a government, with acting ministers making up rest...

Iraqi Women's Minister Resigns in Protest

Budget cuts rob her of resources to help 'army of widows'

(Newser) - Iraq's state minister for women's affairs has quit to protest a lack of resources for a daunting task—improving the lives of "a full army of widows" and other women left poor or abandoned by war. Nawal al-Samarraie told the AP how her office's budget was so tight that...

Iraqi Women Pressured to Run for Office, Fill Quota

Many candidates in Anbar are wives of tribal leaders

(Newser) - Iraq has new rules to boost women's rights, but it may take a while for the nation's culture to get up to speed, Time reports. In this month's provincial elections, for instance, 25% of newly elected council members must be female. But in provinces such as Anbar, the idea of...

Iraqi 'Daughters' Work to Foil Female Attackers

Despite stigma, women guards try to tackle rise in suicide bombings

(Newser) - A new group of Iraqi women is tackling a big rise in suicide attacks by females, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Insurgent groups are exploiting gender norms that prevent men from searching women, giving bombers who look pregnant or are otherwise fully covered easy access to crowded areas. Female search...

6 Stories