Free Republic

TARMIYAH – A blossoming new program organized by embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team-North is teaching widowed and divorced Iraqi women the ins and outs of beekeeping in order to help them put food on the table while they help put honey on the tables of others.Twenty-five Iraqi women graduated from the beekeeper training program, March 27. "These women are the heads of the household, many [because of] the sectarian conflict," said Mary-Denise Tabar, the public diplomacy and women's affairs advisor for ePRT-North. "The program aims to train local rural women on the theoretical and practical applications of basic beekeeping." EPRT-North embeds...

KIRKUK — To better understand the root cause of domestic violence, Iraqi Police, Pena Women's Cultural Center members and U.S forces conducted a meeting on the subject here, Dec. 21. Domestic violence is any form of physical, non-physical or sexual abuse, which takes place either in or outside of the home, according to James, a law-enforcement specialist working with 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment. At this meeting the participants discussed how the IP could better deal with victims reporting domestic violence, causes of domestic violence, the cycle of violence, different support services and the effects of domestic violence on children,...

KIRKUK — The use of non-governmental organizations to champion social issues is often a successful method of combating social and cultural woes. Some examples include anti-smoking and –litter campaigns in the United States. While the government of Kirkuk continues to develop, private citizens are encouraged to take on social challenges. The role of women in Iraq, and their contributions to Kirkuk, was the subject of a conference Nov. 19 at the Kirkuk Government Building. Non-Governmental Organizations representing women's issues attended the conference, which included groups who addressed issues ranging from illiteracy, domestic violence, small business development and civil rights awareness....

AL MUTHANA, Iraq, Nov. 5, 2009 – The Iraqi army graduated 42 women here as the first all-female class to complete its enlisted basic combat training course. Iraqi Staff Brig. Gen. Mohammed Abdul Razq, deputy director of the tactical training directorate, and Iraqi Staff Col. Mohammed Abdul Rahman Essa, deputy commander of the Regional Training Center, delivered congratulatory remarks to the pioneering women at an Oct. 29 graduation. Iraqi army recruit Junde Lubab Ibrahim Kaleel said she was very excited about graduation. "It is important for me, for Iraqi women and for Iraq because we have a chance for a...

Representatives from eight Iraqi women's associations meet to discuss possible business training with members of the Ninawa Provincial Reconstruction Team in the town of Qare Qosh in Ninawa province, Oct 27. Photo by 2nd Lt. Jeff Orban, 1st Cavalry Division. Iraqi business women here are taking advantage of a program instituted by the Ninawa Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) to train them on business administration practices. Tony Daza, an economics advisor for the Ninawa PRT, and representatives from eight women's associations held an open dialogue here about the details of the training program, Oct. 27."After we meet with these women’s associations,...

Midtown Manhattan this week has been turned into an extra-specially intense maze of flashing lights, motorcades and those dudes selling noxious candied peanuts -- the former heralding the advent of the U.N. General Assembly and the latter simply a New York Thing That Will Not Go Away, Ever. This year's festivities will probably best be remembered for Muammar Qaddafi's theatrical hijinks (the tent, the rant, the shredding) and for the triumphant return of the United States to the world forum -- but on the sidelines of these conventions, there's been some significant (and long overdue) attention paid to the role...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq, Aug. 6, 2009 – Iraqi women discussed opportunities in business development and contracting with U.S. soldiers and contractors during a meeting at Basra Airport in Iraq. Army Capt. Ann Demapan, a women’s initiatives coordinator for Multinational Division South, discusses business opportunities available to educated Iraqi women at a conference at Basra Airport, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Stephanie Cassinos  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The conference highlighted opportunities with Joint Contracting Command Iraq’s women-owned business initiative, a program that reserves Defense Department contracts for businesses primarily owned by women. “The target audience for...

Army Capt. Jennifer Glossinger, Women’s Initiatives Program coordinator for Multi-National Division - South, learns more about the specific talents of Iraqi women at a conference in Zabir, July 7. Glossinger hopes to find women who are willing to teach others new skills. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Stephanie Cassinos. BASRAH — The role of the Women’s Initiatives Program (WIP) here is to be a voice for the Iraqi women, including thousands of widows who live in rural areas and whose families may be more susceptible to terrorist activities. By speaking to women from various locations, the WIP can assess their...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq, July 15, 2009 – The view from a Humvee window in rural Iraq is a confusing sight. Small, broken structures disrupt long stretches of sand. Closer to town, abandoned vehicles corrode on the side of the road, trash collects in puddles and ditches, and people herd animals mere yards away from shops on the street. Army Capt. Jennifer Glossinger, Women’s Initiatives program coordinator for Multinational Division South, learns more about the specific talents of Iraqi women at a conference in Zabir, Iraq, July 7, 2009. Glossinger hopes to find women who are willing to teach...

There has been an unprecedented unleashing of violence against women in Iraq in recent years. What is the link between the US-led invasion of the country and the rise in women's rights violations? Before the invasion of their country in 2003, women formed forty per cent of Iraq's public work force. Today, ninety per cent of them are unemployed. Polygamy, previously virtually unheard of in Baghdad is making a comeback as women become second and third wives in order to survive economically.

Apparently it's totally acceptible for a woman to be raped and/or beheaded because she happened to disagree with Saddam. And now, because things are a bit rough in Iraq regarding electricity and such, women are wishing they could go back to the way things were under Saddam. At least that is what my liberal friends say. :/

Iraqi Member of Parliament Safiya Talib al-Suhail was keynote speaker at an Iraqi women's business seminar June 20 in Baghdad. Al-Suhail has a long history of promoting the rights and status of Iraqi women. USACE Photo by Rick Haverinen. BAGHDAD — Sustainment contracting was the focus of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Gulf Region Division (GRD)-sponsored women's business seminar here, June 20, as 35 Iraqi businesswomen attended this half-day event, part of a continuing series of meetings for the Women's Advocate Initiative. "Our goal is to encourage and support Iraqi businesswomen to be more involved in the execution and...

Sgt. Frankie Hibberd (far right), of 150th Armored Reconnaissance Squadron, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team, uses hand gestures and animated facial expressions to teach nine members of the Daughters of Iraq search techniques at an old high school in Yusifiyah, June 12. Photo by Spc. Ruth McClary, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team. BAGHDAD — Loud chatter filled the room as ten women from the Daughters of Iraq (DoI) gathered at an old high school in Yusifiyah, south of Baghdad, to train new-hires, update information in the U.S. forces database and discuss present conditions with U.S. Army officers, June 12. The...

A U.S. soldier convicted of murdering an Iraqi family spoke out for the first time Thursday, issuing a public apology for his crimes. Former U.S. soldier Steven Green got life in prison after being convicted of murdering four Iraqis. Steven Green, who escaped the death penalty this month, told relatives of the victims that he is "truly sorry for what I did in Iraq." "I helped to destroy a family and end the lives of four of my fellow human beings, and I wish that I could take it back, but I cannot," Green said, reading a statement at a...

The biggest thing standing between a Muslim woman’s life and death is a tenacious Vancleave soldier on Iraqi soil. Shadia, a 30-year-old with a sweet smile and sparkly personality, searches women before allowing them entrance to the Abu Ghraib warehouse, where Col. Thomas Bruce Cain is the site commander. Her last name can’t be revealed, nor photographs shown, for fear of persecution by others not appreciative of an American presence in their country, Cain said. A tumor is pressing on Shadia’s brain and Iraqi doctors can’t do the surgery that could save her life. Cain couldn’t watch her die,...

BAGHDAD — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) here announced two initiatives that will help Iraqi women get work with the Corps’ Gulf Region Division (GRD). GRD unveiled the initiatives at the Women-Owned Business and the Future Conference at the Rasheed Hotel here, March 21. U.S. Navy Capt. Joseph Konicki, director of military programs, GRD, told the 50-member audience the Division set aside a percentage of contracts in the Foreign Military Sales and Iraqi Security Force Funds programs to award to women-owned businesses here. This is the first time GRD is tapping a portion of its Foreign Military Sales...

FOB WARRIOR — Women of northern Iraq gathered together for a conference in Narwooz Hall in Kirkuk City March 14, aimed at improving the status of women’s rights and their quality of life in Iraq. The women’s rights movement began during the Middle Ages in this region, when pioneers worked to improve the status of women in Islamic nations during early Islamic reforms. According to Dr. Jamal A. Badawi in “The Status of Woman in Islam,” women were granted rights in marriage, divorce and inheritance; and marriage became a “contract” as opposed to a “status,” in which a woman’s consent...

WASHINGTON, March 20, 2009 – In April 2004, at the height of the insurgency in Iraq, five female soldiers unwittingly found themselves fighting alongside Marines in the battle for Ramadi and Fallujah. Their story is told in a documentary film bearing their unit name, “Team Lioness,” which has been shown in private and public screenings throughout the United States and Europe in the past year. The Center for Women Veterans hosted the film at the Department of Veterans Affairs headquarters here yesterday. “These stories are important to us at VA, because women veterans are coming to VA in great numbers,...

BAGHDAD, Feb. 23, 2009 – Soldiers with the 63rd Armor Regiment got the chance to buy homemade products and souvenirs and further the cause of Iraqi women and their families recently when they hosted a bazaar to sell the women’s handiwork. Soldiers from Task Force 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 63rd Armor Regiment, buy from a vendor during a women's bazaar at Forward Operating Base Mahmudiya in Baghdad, Feb. 17, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Jamie Vernon  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. "This is a great way for local women to improve their small businesses and take care...

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq, Feb. 18, 2009 – A rash of suicide bombings by women in Iraq in 2008 led officials to create a program to empower Iraqi women by fostering equality and the ensuring their basic human rights are met. Army Capt. Jennifer Glossinger, Women’s Initiative program coordinator, speaks with a woman about issues Iraqi women face near Baghdad, Feb. 16, 2009. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The first component of the three-part Women’s Initiative Program is to reverse the trend in female suicide bombings, which increased from seven in 2007 to 38 last year, officials...