Their lives or their jobs
Baghdad, Mar. 5, (VOI) – Hamzia Jassim never imagined that someday she would be forced to make a difficult choice; either to continue with the job that she enjoys and has practiced for the last 30 years, or to find another job, aiming only to preserve her life.
Editor’s note: The original for this article is here
As a woman in nowadays Iraq, it was not easy for Jassim to work as a journalistic photographer; she even lost her camera that was confiscated when Jassim was shooting a security incident site in Baghdad – capital city of Iraq.
Jassim is not the only one who abandoned the career of photography due to security reasons; other Iraqi women that practiced the same profession have also done so to protect their lives.
“I wish that I could practice journalistic photography again, but tense security situations prevent me from doing so, particularly in hot areas,” Jassim said to Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI), proceeding “I have been questioned on more than one occasion while shooting some incidents in Baghdad, and Iraqi security forces confiscated my camera. They also attempted to insult and beat me, and only my bags helped me to escape their fists.”
“There is no specific side that supports us, we are forgotten and unemployed,” Jassim said, asserting, “Female photographers are either prisoners at their houses, or they currently pursue other different jobs.”
Samira al-Daghistani, a female photographer, depicts a story similar to that of her colleague – Jassim. “My camera had been confiscated more than once by Iraqi policemen, who also wanted to beat and drag me by my hair, and at that point, I decided to abandon my career as a photographer, to preserve my life and dignity,” al-Daghistani said to VOI.
“When I started working as a photographer, I was the youngest female photographer in Iraq, and everyone at that time wanted to help me,” al-Daghistani told VOI, explaining, “The last four years prevented me from practicing my skills due to the deterioration in security, and I am now unemployed at home. I witnessed the double standards of Iraqi policemen. While they were facilitating journalistic missions of Arab and foreign female photographers, they questioned my career values and insulted me.”
General Abdul-Kareem Khalaf, manager of the National Command Center in the Iraqi Ministry of Interior (MOI), explained to VOI, “Shooting at sites of explosions is banned to offer a suitable space for investigators and policemen to identify the main features of the crime; thus, preserving evidence requires deporting journalists out of incidents’ locations.”
“Media organizations should not shoot casualties and injuries, because this issue is attributed to human rights afforded by both Iraqi and international laws,” Khalaf said, asserting “Iraqi security forces didn’t target female photographers or confiscate their cameras.”
While Nidhal Al-Azawi, who has 20 years of experience in the field of photography, perceives that Iraqi female photographers currently face three sorts of difficulties. “Being a feamle photographer is very difficult, not only due to security reasons, but also because of social concerns that prevent us from practicing our skills, and many of us have received death threats in this respect from some parties that I cannot mention,” al-Azawi told VOI. “In addition, photography equipment is very expensive when compared with the income of this job.”
From his side, Sabah al-Jamasi, head of the Iraqi Photographers Association, said to VOI, “We support any Iraqi woman that works as a photographer,” adding “some Iraqi female photographers have much better skills than their male counterparts,” asserting “It is the current security situation that threatens even male photographers.”
Indexed under: Features, Human Rights, Journalists Attacked, Women and Children, Women's Rights