Iraqi policewomen are told to surrender their weapons

[ProSense]

Iraqi policewomen are told to surrender their weapons

POLICEWOMEN AT WORK: Three female officers demonstrate how to search visitors. Iraq
has ordered policewomen to turn in their weapons, undermining a U.S. initiative. Critics note
that pat-down searches will be hampered, as will rape investigations.

The move is a sign of the religious and cultural conservatism that has taken hold since Hussein's ouster.

By Tina Susman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
December 11, 2007

BAGHDAD -- The Iraqi government has ordered all policewomen to hand in their guns for redistribution to men or face having their pay withheld, thwarting a U.S. initiative to bring women into the nation's police force.

The Interior Ministry, which oversees the police, issued the order late last month, according to ministry documents, U.S. officials and several of the women. It affects all officers who have earned the title "policewoman" by graduating from the police academy. It does not apply to men in the same type of jobs.

Critics say the move is the latest sign of the religious and cultural conservatism that has taken hold in Iraq since Saddam Hussein's ouster ushered in a government dominated by Shiite Muslims. Now, that tendency is hampering efforts to bring stability to Iraq by driving women from the force, said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. David Phillips, who has led the effort to recruit female officers.

<...>

U.S. trainers began recruiting women in early 2004 and were so swamped with applicants that they had to turn many away. By the end of that year, about 1,000 women had graduated. Since U.S. authorities handed over responsibility for police recruitment and training to Iraqi authorities in February 2006, Phillips said, the number of female recruits has dropped to virtually zero.

more

Rising player with a vision for Shiite Iraq

[shance]

1. More fear and violence brought to you by Bush, Cheney and Halliburton.

n/t