From Iraqi blogger Riverbend:
“Females can no longer leave their homes alone. Each time I go out, E. and either a father, uncle or cousin has to accompany me. It feels like we�ve gone back 50 years ever since the beginning of the occupation …
“We are seeing an increase of fundamentalism in Iraq which is terrifying.”
From Yanar Mohammed, director of the Organisation of Women’s Freedom in Iraq:
More than 400 Iraqi women have been kidnapped and raped amid the lawlessness gripping the country since the ouster of Saddam Hussein, the Organisation of Women�s Freedom in Iraq said Sunday.
�This violence is still a daily occurrence, especially on the streets of Baghdad, without attracting the least attention of the (US) soldiers.�
From Hanna Megally of Human Rights Watch:
“Women and girls today in Baghdad are scared, and many are not going to schools or jobs or looking for work. If Iraqi women are to participate in postwar society, their physical security needs to be an urgent priority.”
From Jerry Bremer, Presidential Envoy to Iraq:
“Life in Iraq will be more open, with each Iraqi free to choose his or her own path. This is the real meaning of the coalition�s military victory: A new Iraq means new freedom.”