Reference :
V-P-IQ-E-02322
Date :
20/05/2017
Caption :
Erbil, Rozhawa Hospital. This 50-year-old woman is a patient of the hospital. She suffered burns on her face when her house in Mosul was hit by mortar fire. Her arms were severely burnt while she was saving her nephew from the fire.
Confidentiality level :
public
Publication restrictions :
reserved users only
Description :
Her three children were trapped under the rubble for three days. She stayed at the house waiting for them to be rescued before seeking treatment for her own wounds. Her daughter and husband are also in Rozhawa Hospital, but her two sons were reportedly taken to another hospital. She has been unable to find out their location or condition.
"I hate wars as they bring destruction and unrest. I seek stability, security, living and moving in safe manner, and employment for my son. This is what I really want. Men like wars. Actually the brave men go to war. This also applies to courageous women who are unlike me. I fear war. I only like peace. Women may play a role in preventing wars. Some of them prefer fighting. If it were up to me, I will prevent the war. Iraq has witnessed conflict for a long time. We have not experienced a state of relaxation. Although we witnessed other wars, the last one was the most intense. There is no better lesson to teach my daughter than the conditions we experienced within the last three years. This is the best lesson I have learned throughout my life. If I live a long life, I will convey this lesson to the future generation. Indeed, this war is the lesson and we will not forget it", she says.
West Erbil Emergency Hospital has received hundreds of war wounded and trauma cases from the conflict in Mosul. The ICRC supports this hospital and others, especially in the treatment of people injured in the conflict.
ICRC web site, article of 11.10.2018: Women and war. Men make war; women live with the consequences. At least that is the way it is largely perceived.
Women live and react to those consequences, but they are hardly passive victims. They grieve, they fight against the suffering, and many find they are forced to re-invent themselves, shedding an old identity and forging a new one shaped by war.
A new feature by National Geographic, supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross, takes a closer look at how women react to and deal with the disruption that conflict brings to family and work life.
In the project, A Woman's War, we break open the stereotype of "women as victim" and explore the multiple, complex, sometimes conflicting roles women play in conflict: fighters, humanitarians, mothers, daughters, laborers, community leaders and survivors.
"I believe that women are agents for change. I believe that women are major sources of stability in conflict-affected areas and that they hold together not only their families but their communities," said Mary Werntz, the deputy director of operations at the International Committee of the Red Cross. "My hope is that we all, humanitarians included, are able to look at women in their complete forms and not just as victims of something."
The lives documented are diverse. Photographer Robin Hammond visited a war he knows well – Iraq – as well as conflicts that seldom make global headlines, in the Philippines and southern Nigeria. Identities continue to be shaped by war even when the guns falls silent, so Hammond also travelled to Peru to see old scars that have not yet healed.
Working on gender is complex. It combines power and privilege, community rituals and expectations. Conflict tends to exacerbate existing inequalities. What happens when the family bread winner – often a male – goes off to war or is killed by the violence? Societal roles shift; women may be given an opportunity they previously didn't have.
"I think in many conflict situations women are forced into being the ones in charge of the family," Werntz said. "Women may have to take care of the agricultural areas. They may have to move into the work force. They have to look after the kids' education."
Resolution :
6192x8256
Orientation :
portrait
Colour/B&W :
colour
