CRSV: Iraq War: 2003-2011

Written By The Gender Security Project

This case note documents the occurrence of sexual violence in violent conflict. It contains explicit mentions of different forms of sexual assault. Reader discretion is advised.

Background of the conflict

The Iraq War, also called the Second Gulf War, was a protracted armed conflict in Iraq between 2003 and 2011. It began with the invasion of Iraq by the United States-led coalition, which overthrew the Ba’athist government led by Saddam Hussein. In response, an insurgency emerged, to oppose the US and is allies. In 2014, the US became involved in the war, three years after withdrawing in 2011 (Fisk, 2007). 

The us claimed that Iraq had a weapons of mass destruction (WMD) program, and that Saddam Hussein was supporting Al-Qaeda. However, in 2004, the 9/11 Commission concluded that there was no relationship between Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda. No WMD stockpiles were found in Iraq, either (Jervis, 2006).

In October 2002, the US Congress passed a joint resolution that gave George W Bush Jr. the power to use military force against the Iraqi government. The US was joined by the United Kingdom, Australia, and Poland, and launched a “shock and awe” bombing campaign. Following this, the US-led coalition launched a ground invasion. They swept through the country, overwhelming the Iraqi forces. The invasion toppled the Saddam Hussein government, captured him, and executed him three years later (Hersh, 2004).

With this, civil war broke out between Shias and Sunnis, and an insurgency against the coalition forces. In 2008, George Bush agreed to withdraw all US troops from Iraq. The withdrawal was completed under Obama’s presidency, in 2011.

The war resulted in the deaths of 150,000 to 1,033,000 people, including over 100,000 civilians, and the displacement of over 3.3 mn Iraqis.

Prevalence of sexual violence

Following the 2003 invasion, the security forces of Iraq were dismantled. This resulted in large scale sexual violence. Reports suggest that 3500 Iraqi women disappeared, many of whom were feared to have been sold into sexual slavery. Following the dismantling of the Sunni government, many Sunni women were forced to turn to prostitution to survive. The US pursued a campaign of torture, and used sexual violence to intimidate, humiliate and torture men. Abu Ghraib prison (Hersh, 2004) was especially a site of brutal violence, including various forms of sexual violence. US troops also perpetrated rape and sexual violence women against and girls. In a major case that made headlines at the time was the Mahmudiyah rape and killing case, where a 14-year-old girl was raped and murdered, after which her parents and her six-year-old sister. Four of the soldiers were convicted of rape and murder, and the fifth was convicted of lesser crimes (Barrouquere, 2009). According to Human Rights Watch (2003), there was an increase in the number of abductions, arrests, and murders of women in the name of honour in conjunction with an increase in the number of incidents of rape. Women had also been subject to sexual violence in detention (HRW, 2003). There was often secrecy surrounding the detention of women owing to collusion between their families and the occupying coalition forces - as the families feared social stigma and coalition forces feared drawing the ire of human rights organizations and groups, and of Iraqis (HRW, 2003).

Basis of the use of sexual violence

Sexual and gender-bared violence were used as a torture tactic, to intimidate men and women alike. In places where sectarian violence unfolded, sexual and gender-based violence were used deliberately to target women ground from the “other” sects as a form of humiliation. In prisons, especially Abu Ghraib, men were subject to various form of sexual violence as torture, intimidation, humiliation, and as a demonstration of power. The use of sexual violence by American and other western soldiers as a form of torture was cited by the ISIS as justification for their violence. Aside from these forms of sexual violence, several women were trafficked for sexual slavery. Conditions of poverty also faced several women and girls to turn to survival or transactional sex, where they were exploited by aid workers and soldiers for sexual favours in exchange for food, nothing, medication and other essential supplies.

References

The Gender Security Project
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