Conspiracy of near silence: Violence against Iraqi women

The administration of President George W. Bush had started paying a great deal of public attention to the suffering of Iraqi women under the regime of Saddam Hussein shortly before the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003. Many in the West assume that, because armed conflict has lessened, Iraq has become a safe place to live. This impression is exaggerated, at best. According to Iraq Body Count, an independent website that uses press accounts to track the war's death toll, there were 4,036 civilian fatalities caused by US-led forces, paramilitary units or criminal elements in 2010. The Iraq Family Health Survey of 2006-2007, conducted by a consortium including the World Health Organization and the Iraqi Ministry of Health, also questioned women about their violent encounters. Female unemployment is also a huge problem that has deepened since 2003.