On May 19th Iraq Union Solidarity members attended a meeting held at Conway Hall by the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association about the plight of women and LGBT people living in Iraq.
Speakers from the OutRage! LGBT rights campaign, along with Houzan Mahmoud from the Organisation for Women's Freedom in Iraq (OWFI), emphasised the day-to-day struggle they faced in a culture of reaction fostered by the Islamist militias in Iraq.
The social stigma of women who refuse to wear the veil and LGBT people is huge. We were told of how death threats, kidnappings and murders are commonplace, particularly thanks to a Fatwa imposed against gays by Ayatollah Al-Sistani. The families of those rumoured to be gay are also highly vulnerable, sometimes killed as they are blamed for their relative's sexuality.
While OutRage! has run a successful campaign to have the Fatwa removed from al-Sistani's website, the situation on the ground has not improved.
Another targeted group is prostitutes - many Iraqis, including many children, have been forced into selling themselves because the poverty brought on by the war and subsequent occupation is so huge. OWFI estimates that at least 2000 women have been kidnapped and made into sex slaves since 2003.
Organisations defending them deserve our solidarity and support. OutRage! contacts in Iraq are working to help create refuges for sex workers under threat, and also to help people escape into neighbouring Jordan and Syria, where the situation is slightly better. OWFI has a consistent record of campaigning for women's rights and defending women in an increasingly reactionary society.
OutRage! - www.outrage.org.uk
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