No More Female Iraqi Police Officers

The LA Times reports that late last month, Iraqi policewomen were told to relinquish their weapons or face not getting paid. Women cannot become commanding officers in the police force by Iraqi law, and they are now forced to give their guns to male police officers in exchange for desk jobs. Iraqi freedom indeed. Here are some of the implications of getting rid of women police officers in Iraq:

• Policewomen patted down female civilians crossing checkpoints and female suspects. Who will do so now? Not policemen because of Islamic law. With the rise of suicide bombings done by women (5 of the 6 since the Iraq War occurred this year), fewer female terrorists will be caught before an attack.
• Rape victims won't have anywhere to turn, since they wouldn't feel comfortable talking to a male police officer.
• Even administrators working for the police, women and men, have been killed while off-duty. Male off-duty cops and administrators will still be allowed to keep their guns. The women, however, will have no protection from insurgents.

The article has a lot of great quotes from Iraqi policewomen and how they feel about the new policy.