Jordan is the second-ranking destination for trafficked girls and women, according to the Nov. These two bordering countries have maintained a relatively liberal policy of granting visas to refugees while also subjecting them to labor restrictions.
That combination, the report finds, puts girls and women at high risk of seeking money through prostitution and also being prostituted by families and organized networks. Despite that, the study charges the Iraqi government with failing to identify and prosecute traffickers or to protect victims. Instead, the government "often punishes victims of trafficking for crimes committed as a direct result of being trafficked.
The study, "Karamatuna" or "Our Dignity" in Arabic, serves as the first stage of a project to measure the full extent of trafficking of Iraqi women and the way in which women are exploited. It analyzes existing literature and data collected by nongovernmental groups and international organizations. In the next stage, researchers will interview victims. The report describes the plight of Leyla, an Iraqi refugee, last known to be living with her mother and brothers.
By the age of 14, her mother had forced her to work in a nightclub as a prostitute in order to generate income for the family. Domestic violence, rape and other forms of gender-based violence have become a common practice among the internally displaced persons in Iraq and the large refugee communities in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and other countries of the Middle East, according to the report.
Girls were allowed to attend school, which narrowed the literacy gap and provided women more access to high-ranking jobs in government agencies and ministries. Divorce laws were liberalized, giving women more leeway to exit marriages.
