Baghdad, June 1 (DPA) Over 90 women are widowed each day in Iraq amid an escalation in sectarian violence and most of them struggle to make ends meet, having lost their family's sole bread-winner.
Life has been a struggle for 39-year-old Somaya since her husband was felled two years ago by a random bullet as he was walking in a Baghdad suburb leaving her along to bring up three children, the oldest only 11.
She lives in a small rented apartment in the Shia-dominated Al-Shoala district of western Baghdad, where she works as a vegetable vendor. Her apartment building lacks basic sanitation.
'Two years ago my husband was killed. He did not have any political activities or animosities, he was just working selling leftovers,' she says.
'We were happy despite having a difficult life. Now I am alone and have to raise three kids and send them to school regularly with the little income I get from my work,' she adds.
The ministry for women's affairs is unable to provide statistics on the number of widows in the country but a recent UN report, based on information from several Iraqi aid organisations, showed that around 90-100 women are widowed each day, owing to an escalation in sectarian violence.
Targeted assassinations, random killings and roadside and car bombs have become commonplace in Iraq in the aftermath of the US-led invasion and ouster of former president Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Asma al-Shabout, a women's rights activist, says the statistics provided by UN reflect the increase in violence across the country, but also noted that the country already had many young widows before the current Iraq war.
'The phenomenon dates back to the start of the wars ordered by Saddam in 1980 until he was toppled in 2003,' informs al-Shabout.
Official statistics on the numbers of women widowed during Saddam Hussein's rule were never published, probably because in some cases the men died in controversial circumstances.
'Some of them (widows) were under conditions that did not allow them from demanding their rights as their husbands died by being hanged or tortured in Saddam's prisons on political or sectarian grounds,' she explains.
Fa'eza Papakhan, a former Kurdish MP and activist, also sounds the alarm bell over the growing number of widows.
'Iraqi streets are experiencing lots of violence and killing, so the rate of widows is at risk of rising, something that would put the Iraqi family at risk,' she says.
Papakhan believes that the problem of Iraqi widows could only be tackled by improving the security situation and by disarming the militias. 'The problem of widows needs serious government intervention and real aid.'
The Iraqi government has earmarked 1.5 million Iraqi dinars ($1,000) for each Iraqi widow, but some complain that only those with political connections get help.
'We did not receive any financial assistance from the government because my husband was not affiliated with any of the government bodies,' laments Somaya.
© 2006 DPA | 
