Women are sexually abused in Saleh El Din camps

An Iraqi organization for women rights revealed that, displaced women are being sexually harassed during aids’ distribution in camps in Saleh El Din governorate.

Executive Director of “Bint Al-Rafidain” organization, Alia Al-Ansari said in a statement “Arab Today” was able to see that, thousands of displaced women are having hard times in Saleh El Din camps, without any security or safety. Along with these difficulties, there is sexual and violent harassment, with no proper mechanisms to deal with such violations and maintain women dignity.

Al-Ansari said that, camps conditions are unqualified to provide protection or stop this harassment, adding that, women are abused on humanitarian aids stations by the holders of the camps, and women are afraid to talk about it or even protect themselves.

There are hundreds of women who lost their husbands in war, and became victims of exploitation with no ways of protection. She said that, these women prefer to be silent about such violation, rather than talking and become media materials to some organizations, with no guarantee that they will help them. She added that, the power given to men, supported legally and socially, plays a great role in abusing these women, which makes it even harder for women to talk, as they know these men will not be punished.

She stressed that, talking about these violations should be on top of international, governmental and domestic interests, and great effort should be exerted to solve this problem and provide women with all security measures to keep them safe.