Female Iraqi Police Graduate

by Terri Potratz | September 24, 2008 at 09:44 am

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As more and more women carry out bomb attacks in Iraq by detonating themselves, females have finally been permited to join the police force and the first 21 women obtained their certificates in Diyala last week.

Recognizing a need for women to frisk other women, whom male police will not touch, the Ministry of Interior appears to be relaxing what had been opposition to the idea of females carrying weapons and working in dangerous environments.
On Wednesday, the first 21 women to graduate from police training in Diyala province got their certificates, along with hundreds of men who joined them in celebration.

The female officers underwent 240 hours of basic training just as the men do, and learned how to use firearms, handcuff suspects, and search people and vehicles. It was a noted victory, as last year the Iraqi Interior Ministry ordered all policewomen to surrender their weapons to derail the US initiative to recruit women into the police force. These female officers were effectively demoted to desk jobs, as they were unable to protect themselves without weapons on the streets.

There are already 300 female applicants for the next round of training in Diyala.

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