In Iraq, social workers warn that years of war and conflict have robbed many children not only of their parents, but also of their childhood.
Rhagad is one of those children. She is a young Iraqi girl living on the edge of adulthood — and on the verge of prostitution.
The tiny 13-year-old has skinny arms and legs, and wears a headscarf that keeps slipping off her thick black hair. She swears she's a good girl and doesn't hang around with bad people, but the faint shimmer of makeup on her cheeks and the chipped nail polish on her little fingers tell a different story.
On the Verge of Prostitution
Men often stare at Rhagad and call to her on the streets.
"They tell me they would give me everything if only I have sex with them, but I walk away without saying a word," she says.
Rhagad has the smart-aleck swagger common in many street kids, and she's defensive when she talks. But her tough exterior crumbles when her older sister Shahed tells of how much she hates to hear men mutter profanities at her little sister. Hearing her talk, Rhagad starts to cry.
The sisters couldn't look more different. Shahed, who's 14, wears a floor-length dark tunic with a white headscarf that allows not a wisp of hair to be seen. Rhagad wears a bright pink T-shirt stretched thin over her tiny chest, underneath a red jacket. Her fitted jeans have sparkles on them.
The differences don't end there. Shahed dreams of becoming a teacher and studies hard. She easily recites a poem they were taught in school while her sister watches. She also tries to tell Rhagad that there are bad people everywhere.
"I tell her not to talk to them," Shahed says. "People are corrupt, and a girl should preserve her chastity, and God will help her."
Young Girls at Risk
Shahed and Rhagad's father is in jail, and their mother left them a long time ago. They live with relatives who don't bother to ask where they go after school. Shahed says she goes straight home and does homework. But Rhagad, if she even goes to school, loiters behind with older girls.
Rhagad talks about the exploits of other girls — girls at school who go to a man's house unaccompanied, which is taboo in this culture. She also talks about a girl who goes inside shops where shopkeepers give her money and have fun with her. She doesn't explain what "having fun" means, but there are examples around her. Girls Rhagad's age hover at police checkpoints or intersections, first begging for some change then offering sexual favors — anything for money.
Rhagad knows she's treading a fine line. She's not afraid of the adults in her life who allow her to run around unchecked, but she fears Shiite militants — men who belong to Shiite militias who set fire to liquor stores and try to enforce strict Islamic law. Rhagad says her other sister, who is already working as a prostitute, left home after too many close calls with the militia.
"They warned her," she says. "They said, 'Behave yourself, or else we'll shave your head and take you to mosque and punish you by religious law.' "
Coming of Age During War
Whatever the threat, it's not enough to convince Rhagad to avoid trouble. The sisters' neighbors, a friendly husband and wife, say they try to help. The wife says that she wants to buy Rhagad more conservative clothes and that she appeals to the young girl to follow her elder sister's chaste example. But Rhagad is like any teenage girl growing up — shy and at the same time curious.
"I ask my friends what is it in me that men find so attractive," she says. "They tell me, they just want to have fun."
She says she tries not to pay attention to the men, but it's hard to look away.
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