Real World Event Discussions

Sad Story

POSTED BY: GinoBiffaroni
UPDATED: Saturday, August 25, 2007 14:45
VIEWED: 7798
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Thursday, August 16, 2007 4:47 AM

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/36B04283-E43F-4367-90BB-E6C60CB
88F76.htm


Sex for survival
By Afif Sarhan in Baghdad



The US invasion and the sectarian war have
created thousands of widows in Iraq [AFP]
When Rana Jalil, 38, lost her husband in an explosion in Baghdad last year, she could never have imagined becoming a prostitute in order to feed her children.



A mother of four, Jalil sought out employment, but job opportunities for women had decreased since the US invasion.



She begged shop owners, office workers and companies to hire her but was treated with what she calls chauvinistic discrimination.



Within weeks of her husband's death, a doctor diagnosed her children with malnutrition.



Fighting tears, she recalled the desperation which led her to the oldest profession: "In the beginning these were the worst days in my life. My husband was the first man I met and slept with, but I didn't have another option … my children were starving."



She left the house in a daze, she recalled, and walked to the nearest market to find someone who would pay her for sex.



She said: "I'm a nice-looking woman and it wasn't difficult to find a client. When we got to the bed I tried to run away … I just couldn't do it, but he hit and raped me. When he paid me afterwards, it was finished for me.



"When I came home with some food I had bought from that money and saw my children screaming of happiness, I discovered that honour is insignificant compared to the hunger of my children."



Iraqi widows desperate



Prior to the US invasion, Iraqi widows, particularly those who lost husbands during the Iran-Iraq war, were provided with compensation and free education for their children. In some cases, they were provided with free homes.



However, no such safety nets currently exist and widows have few resources at their disposal.



According to the non-governmental organisation Women's Freedom in Iraq (OWFI), 15 per cent of Iraqi women widowed by the war have been desperately searching for temporary marriages or prostitution, either for financial support or protection in the midst of sectarian war.

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Thursday, August 16, 2007 10:22 AM

The U.S.A. brings liberty and Democracy to all corners of the globe.

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Thursday, August 16, 2007 12:11 PM

Don't fall for this obvious Al Jazeera anti-America propaganda bullshit. It's as fabricated as the Baghdad Diarist's Journal that has just been admitted to as being totally bogus. Sorry bleeding hearts, best look for another sappy tree somewhere to hug.

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Thursday, August 16, 2007 12:14 PM

*Shivers and cries*

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Thursday, August 16, 2007 12:29 PM

not sure i trust the signal on your source but - aw jeez - do i doubt this stuff is happening - and all over (not just iraq)? - hell no.

please go to www.equalitynow.org
it's what joss would want.


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Thursday, August 16, 2007 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by GinoBiffaroni:
When Rana Jalil, 38,


Has to be a phony story, else she'll get stoned. This sort of behaivor is frowned on by the Islamic types.

While this particular story is likely fabricated, the story has a true ring cause it sounds like the same story countless women have told throughout the history of the oldest profession.

This is not caused by the US invasion, its caused because sometimes life presents women with challenges and this is their answer...perhaps the only one they can think of that allows them to survive and provide for themselves and often their children.

You can't blame the US for a problem in humanity that has existed in every age and culture since the dawn of time. I suggest that American freedom, which promotes equal rights for women, has done more to combat this sort of situation then the stoning she'd face under Shariah Law.

H

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Thursday, August 16, 2007 1:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jongsstraw:
Don't fall for this obvious Al Jazeera anti-America propaganda bullshit.

Okay, try this...
http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/06/24/prostitutes/index.h
tml


Still sad Chrisisall

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Thursday, August 16, 2007 7:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by chrisisall:
Originally posted by Jongsstraw:
Don't fall for this obvious Al Jazeera anti-America propaganda bullshit.
Okay, try this...
http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/06/24/prostitutes/index.h
tml


Still sad Chrisisall


Okay, I read it. I'm not sure how I feel yet....article says Saddam publicly executed 200 prostitutes a year in Iraq...these girls have fled to Syria to do this work, and they're mostly children and spouses of ex-protected by Sadaam Sunnis from Fallujah. Frankly I'm astonished that this can be going on in Syria.

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Thursday, August 16, 2007 7:50 PM

I can't believe an international sex-slave trade still exists....or high stakes dog fighting...

Constantly astonished Chrisisall

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Thursday, August 16, 2007 8:00 PM

ooops

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