NAJAF, 6 December (IRIN) - Iraqi women have been increasingly subjected to violence, rape, death and restriction of
movement since a deterioration of security followed the US-led invasion of late 2003, according to the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), an international women's rights NGO.Despite calls by local NGOs, such as the Organisation of Women's Freedom in Iraq (OWFI), for better protection of Iraqi women, Iraqi law neither protects women from the authorities nor their own
families.Najjet Muhammad, a 38-year-old mother-of-three who resides in the Shi'ite holy city of Najjaf, told IRIN her ordeal."I cannot stand the beating anymore. Every day my husband finds a
reason to beat my face or throw whatever he has in his hand at me. The last time he threw a knife at me because I was cooking rice with carrots, which he hates, but which the children like."Most of
the time he has no reason to beat me, but even though he does [beat me] I know I cannot leave. My family told me that only prostitutes divorce their husbands. I'm in my parents' home today because my
husband is travelling. I came here just to have some rest from that house that has been a prison to me since I was married."I never go out alone. My life is to clean, cook and look after my young
children."I asked my husband to let me teach at a nearby school because I am a primary school teacher. The answer he gave me was a half-hour beating over all my body with his belt and shoe."A
month ago, he hit my abdomen so hard that I had to be taken to the hospital. He told them I had fallen over the table and I had to lower my face, since I knew it was a lie."I'm tired of this
violence inside my home. Muslim Shi'ite society, especially in Najjaf, does not give rights to women. It suppresses women, saying women were born for marriage and domestic work and that their voices
should never be heard. And we are not in Afghanistan here, but in Iraq, a country that was once known for its modernity and prosperity."as/hm/ar/ed
