Word: iraqization
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Still, the fact that trafficking is even being acknowledged is a significant and welcome development, says Dalal Rubaie, a senior activist with the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq. She wasn't aware of the draft's existence until TIME contacted her. The government says it has reached out to key NGOs in drafting the law, but that was news to some of the organizations it cited, including the prominent Al-Amal Association, headed by Hanaa Edwar...
...laws are only one aspect of the battle. Enforcing them is another. Activists complain that corruption within the security forces is enabling traffickers to operate with impunity. Many traffickers have "very good ties with the police," says Yanar Mohammed, who heads the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq, a group at the forefront of the fight against trafficking. Young women who have attempted to escape from brothels have sometimes been returned by police officers, she says. "It turns out [the cops] were loyal customers." Saad Fath Allah, director of the National Institute of Human Rights and the head...
There are other challenges. Poverty and certain social traditions make some vulnerable members of society easy targets for traffickers. Although Iraq's constitution grants equal rights to women, their traditional role of domesticity often makes them dependent on male relatives for basic needs. War widows are rendered economically marginalized and vulnerable to exploitation. Salim, the Human Rights Minister, knows alleviating female poverty is key but says there are other considerations. "I can't ask to have jobs for women while the men don't have jobs," she says. "Here in our society, the first thing...
...right way." The government will visit the prisons and set up women's shelters, she says, as well as train select NGOs to help fulfill those roles. Some old habits clearly die hard. But new ones are slowly forming. "Many people say there is no trafficking in Iraq - they refuse to admit this phenomenon," says Fath Allah, head of the inter-ministerial committee. "But we say that this exists and we are working to prevent it from happening. There will be an anti-trafficking...
...pictures of Barack Obama's surprise trip to Iraq...