War on women in Kuwait during the Oil War

By Sissy Vovou

The war may well have ended in Kuwait, and the ``government'' of
Emir Al Sabah restored by the ``Allies''; women, however, are
paying an increasing price for the arrogance of the victors, who
are stepping up their violence against them.

The number of rapes committed now in Kuwait has reached up
to 20 a day, report foreign correspondents from Kuwait City.

Doctors and nurses at the Maternity Hospital, the largest
gynaecological hospital in Kuwait, report that in the first week
of April, 5 to 20 rapes were reported every day by Asian,
Filipina and even Kuwaiti women. Almost all reported that the
rapes were committed by Kuwaiti soldiers in uniform, and the
doctors fear that many of the victims are pregnant.

The number of rapes has been increasing since the ``liberation''
of Kuwait, and it is believed that at least as many have not been
reported. Meanwhile, officials to whom the incidents were
reported have refused to acknowledge them and hence to take any
measures. It is feared that with the return of more Kuwaiti
soldiers, rapes will increase.

Officials of the Catholic Church in the city are working on this
problem, while a special envoy of the pope came from the Vatican
to discuss the matter with the emir.

It's highly unlikely that the envoy will raise with the 65-year-
old emir the problem of rapes that he himself commits, as quite a
few times a year he ``marries'' yet another woman, the youngest
of whom was 15 years old. The emir has had three wives for 30
years, and every few weeks he takes a concubine or ``temporary
wife'', which he is entitled to do under ``Islamic law''.
Officially, he has 37 children, but it's estimated that in
reality he has 120.

One hundred women have reported being raped during the Iraqi
occupation by Iraqi troops, though it is considered that the real
number is much higher. Doctors and nurses are preparing to
``welcome'' the first babies which are being born as a result of
these rapes, which the mothers usually leave on the steps of the
hospitals.

As for the reforms promised by the emir, these do not include the
right of women to vote, as he has made categorically clear.
Already in Britain a Committee for a Just Peace in the Middle
East has been established, among the aims of which are the rights
of Kuwaiti women, including the right to vote. The committee, in
which four female MPs are participating, is putting the
matter to parliament, to the parties and to the trade unions, and
is trying to expose the hypocrisy of the British government,
which, when referring to the restoration of the ``lawful''
government of the country, is not interested either in the fact
that this government was never elected by its people, or in the
lack of any rights for its women.

[Translated by Mike Karadjis from the Greek newspaper Epochi.]