The War on Women

January 2006 -(Horizons) MADRE, a women's human rights organization, is launching a campaign in support of women's shelters in Iraq. Says MADRE executive director Vivian Stromberg: "War and the rise of religious extremism have already unleashed a wave of violence against women in Iraq. Two-and-a-half years after their 'liberation' at the hands of U.S. troops, Iraqi women are experiencing unprecedented levels of 'honour killings,' domestic violence, rape, abduction and forced marriages."

MADRE's partners in Iraq fear that this trend will escalate with the passage of Iraq's new constitution. It is expected to pose grave threats to women's basic rights, including their right to a life free of domestic violence. It posits Islamic law as a basic source of national legislation and gives clerics a strong hand in interpreting and enforcing Iraqi law. To support Iraq's only network of women's shelters--founded by the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq, MADRE is mobilizing women to host house parties to raise money. A tool kit for hosting a party can be ordered online.

For more information or to make a donation to MADRE's campaign, please visit www.MADRE.org or call 212-627-0444.

From: http://infotrac.galegroup.com.libproxy.vassar.edu/itw/infomark/928/996/109101661w3/purl=rc1_EAIM_0_A140244399&dyn=5!xrn_24_0_A140244399?sw_aep=nysl_se_vassar