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Women in Iraq Tell of Rape, Kidnappings

By on June 30, 2014
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From our Partners at Global Fund For Women

With Iraq on the front pages once again, I wanted to share with you one account of the impact of the current spike in violence on the rights and lives of women. 

Young men armed with assault rifles went door to door in Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq, taking “women who are not owned” for “Jihad Nikah” or sex Jihad. From June 9th – 12th, women’s rights activists documented 13 cases of women who were kidnapped and raped by militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Of the 13 women, four of them committed suicide because they couldn’t stand the shame. One woman’s brother committed suicide because he could not bear the fact that he was unable to protect his sister.

Global Fund for Women grantee partners are working in some of the most difficult and violent contexts in the world. Your gift today means that Global Fund can support women’s human rights defenders and sustain their vital work.

“Women are being taken in broad daylight,” said Yanar Mohammed, champion for women’s rights in Iraq and Co-Founder and President of our grantee partner, Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq. “We went from legal work and improving rights of women to working in a state of emergency and trying to find the lowest chain in society and get them to safety.”

In 5 days the Global Fund will close our fiscal year and an important grant-making deadline. Your gift today — $10, $100, or more — can help us fund one more grant for a group like this.

With your support we’re able to make grants that change the lives and futures of women and girls around the world. You can help women advocate for laws and policies that protect them from violence and hold perpetrators accountable. Women and girls’ participation in building and sustaining peace is vital, and you can make a difference.

Please don’t hesitate; your gift will ensure Global Fund can maintain critical support to women’s groups in Iraq and across the globe holding the line to protect and advance women’s human rights. Give today.

From our Partners at Global Fund For Women

Sincerely,

Musimbi Kanyoro
President & CEO

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