Iraqi Refugee Urged to Trade Sex for Food, Cash

By Dominique Soguel

WeNews correspondent

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

An Iraqi refugee woman in Syria cannot, by law, take local work. But her U.N. assistance check doesn't cover living costs and she doesn't want a "pleasure marriage" to help her survive. Her children are so unhappy she's ready to give them up.

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Landlord Complaints

She is one of many single Iraqi women who complain of sexual harassment by landlords or landlords' family or friends.

The U.N. provides food and financial assistance to registered Iraqi female refugees to decrease their risk of sexual exploitation. The agency stressed at a recent conference that prolonged displacement increases financial pressures and puts women at risk of forced prostitution and trafficking.

"We have girls left and sold by their families and subject to all kinds of exploitation," Aseer al-Madaien, a protection officer with the U.N. Commissioner for Human Rights, told Women's eNews.

The humanitarian agency does not issue statistics but al-Madaien thinks the situation is getting worse. "In the last six months, we have seen an increase in family-related threats and abuses. But many women don't report it."

At-risk women and girls in Syria are in need of more shelters and specialized support, she said.

Today, al Sayed is over $200 in debt and out of options. The rent she owes is higher than the monthly assistance she gets from the United Nations.

"I would work anything to survive," she told Women's eNews. "To work is more honorable than people giving me. But every time I ask for a job the reply is a request for sex. I am scared to make a single move."

She contemplates splitting the family. One of her children has become deliriously malnourished and speaks either to himself or to imaginary beings in turn. Day after day, the family sits inside with nothing to do.

"Maybe if I lit myself up," she said, "The world would see there are Iraqi women and children living in darkness."