War Porn: Occupation, Sex, Prostitution

Several years ago I linked to articles that report the rise of prostitution among young Iraqi girls. Many of these prostitutes serviced US military men in Iraq.



As usual, the press has ignored this story, as it has much of the reality on the ground, such as the sexual hrassment of femake US soldiers by their male comrades, the use of chemical weapons in Falluja, the atrocities committed by US soldiers, the toll on civilians of the air campaign and so on.

Now a story out of Syria, where almost a million Iraqi refugees have fled, documents a flourishing sex trade that exploits penurious Iraqis. Reuters writes:

A score of young Iraqi women in tight, shimmering gowns shuffle across the nightclub dance floor under the hungry eyes of Gulf Arabs at nearby tables.

The band blasts out Iraqi songs into the early hours as the watching youths join the dancing or summon girls to sit with them -- there is little pretence about what gets transacted at this neon-lit nightspot half an hour's drive north of Damascus.

The dancers, some in their early teens, do not want to talk, but one said she had no other way to support her family. "My father was killed in Baghdad and our money is finished," muttered the dark-haired girl in a black and silver dress.

The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR calls it "survival sex", a desperate way to cope for Iraqi refugees whose savings have run out since they escaped the violence at home.

As I noted before, the human toll of war expands far beyond destruction of lives and property. It destroys human spirits. Read more!

Sex and War

I wrote about this subject a while ago and linked to several articles that had done some preliminary reporting on the subject. Debra McNutt is doing more in-depth reporting (via Psyche Science and Society)"

My ultimate purpose is doing this research is not only to help expose these crimes against women, but to help build a movement to stop them. Missing from the discussions about Iraqi women’s rights is how the U.S. occupation is creating new oppressions that destroy women’s self-worth. It is our responsibility as Americans to stop our military’s abuses of women, by ending the occupation.

If you have any information on this subject, please forward it to her.

Note on My Absence: I have no personal computer as of now. I am relying on work and other locales to get any web info. Read more!

Occupation, Sex, Murder and Prostitution

The ugly story behind any occupation of another country is the need by occupying soldiers to find sexual release. In a high-stress environment like Iraq, it is no different. Even with the plethora of online pornography sites, there is still the need for that human intimacy that no porn pictures can satiate...

A recent story reports that a US soldier was court-martialed for killing a 17-year old Iraqi boy after having consensual sex with him. The soldier was given 25 years in prison. According to the Associated Press:

...The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Saturday that records show Merida and the Iraqi were on guard duty May 11 in a tower on the perimeter of an Army camp near Tikrit in northern Iraq. At about 10:30 p.m., Merida shot the teen 11 times with his carbine.

Merida first told investigators the teen demanded money at gunpoint. Later, he said he killed the boy because he forced him to have sex. In a third interview, Merida said he got angry after the two had consensual sex.

While this story is no doubt an exception, the rule is that where there are soldiers there will be prostitutes, perhaps proving the truth of the old maxim that where there's a demand there'll be a supply.

But this should not bring a glint of satisfaction to those who want to place the blame on either side. Often, those who provide the services are impoverished by the war and have no other means of subsistence. In many cases, as well, young girls are forced into this by their families who need to feed themselves and their children.

In an online forum in August, I posted a link to an article that described this situation in Iraq. A soldier who'd been there detailed the circumstances of much prostitution that he saw. According to Patrick Lackatt:

Prostitution, he tells me, once illegal before the American occupation, is now rife in Iraq, and hundreds of girls throughout the country are being sold into the seedy world of brothels and sex slavery.

"For one dollar you can get a prostitute in Iraq for one hour," Patrick says.

"For $10 you can get a room, wash her up and do the business," he adds.

He grins and shrugs his shoulders when asked whether this constitutes freedom, adding he has little time for the man who claims that from time to time as the reason Americans are still being sent there.

These stories, no doubt, can be used by both sides of the war debate to fit their own agendas. One thing, at least seems true: when you put an occupying army into a country and ravage it, human misery and corruption will follow. Read more!