BAGHDAD -- Iraqi women, frightened by reports of a rash of kidnappings and rapes, are staying indoors, avoiding school, and donning veils, frustrating those who hoped that the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime would usher in a new era of freedom and greater equality for women.

Coalition authorities and local police do not keep statistics on kidnappings and rapes of girls and women, crimes a local women's group says occur 20 times a day across the country now that the harsh punishments meted out by Hussein's regime are no longer a threat to criminals.

Whether the stories are real or exaggerated, however, Iraqi women say they no longer shop alone or go out at night -- activities they say they felt perfectly safe doing under Hussein's rule. Many families say they are afraid to send their daughters to school or work, and some women are reluctantly wearing veils to avoid tempting gangsters who prey on young women, said Hadil Jawad of the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq.

When women came to the office for a weekly organizing meeting, they covered their heads, Jawad said. "I said, `Why do you cover your head? You are free.' They said they had to cover their heads `so [criminals] would not kidnap us.' "

The rapes have spurred a jump in "honor killings," she said, in which a father or husband kills a raped woman because of the "shame" her victimization has brought on the family.

Human Rights Watch, in a recent report, identified 25 credible cases of kidnappings or rapes of women in the postwar period. Jawad said the number is much higher, as many as 20 a day, and Iraqis say they believe the crime is rampant now that there is little security.

Both activists and police officers, however, agree that the crime is likely to be dramatically underreported, since Muslim Iraqi women may fear rejection or violence from their families.

A woman "cannot say anything or come to tell us. When they grab her, you know what they do with her," said Ahmad Assimil, an Iraqi police officer. "For the Iraqi people, it's shameful, so she keeps silent."

Women endured repression under Hussein's regime, both as Iraqi citizens in general and as women, said Hind Wasfi Tahir of the Iraqi Women's League. A woman could not travel outside the country without a brother, father, or husband to escort her, and attackers could avoid prosecution for rape by marrying their victims, Jawad said.

Women are now revealing cases of workplace sexual harassment during the Hussein era, she said, and honor killings were largely overlooked.

Women and girls also were unable to avoid sexual assault, Tahir said. "The Ba'ath regime had groups that kidnapped young girls and young women, but nobody heard about it," she said.

Female activists had hoped that the new Iraq would have room for a greater voice for women in politics and society. The new Governing Council includes three women. And while two of the three choose to wear headscarfs, Jawad said, the inclusion of women on the council marks a dramatic step forward.

The Iraqi Women's League, in existence since 1952, is growing bigger and stronger since the fall of Hussein, Tahir said. The Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq -- closely aligned with groups critical of the postwar situation in Iraq -- recently expanded from a base in Kurdistan, and is planning a demonstration next Monday in front of the Coalition Provisional Authority office, a tactic that would have been too risky when Hussein was in power.

The fear of rape, however, is keeping women away from opportunities they might have in the new Iraq, activists and Iraqi citizens say.

The stories quickly make the rounds around Baghdad: the 9-year-old girl who was kidnapped and raped, and the young woman whose family paid a ransom to have her released, but who committed suicide because she was ashamed of no longer being a virgin.

Jawad told of a young woman who was in a taxi when three men in a black car tried to pry her out of the back seat. The taxi driver managed to speed away, thwarting the abduction, she said.

"There is no safety in the streets. If I want to go anywhere, I take my sons with me," said Dunia Kamen, 36. "We hoped for more freedom for women, but we are disappointed in the situation. We hope it is temporary."

"We were very happy when the regime collapsed," said Karama Abdusallam. But with the rising danger of rapes and kidnapping, Abdusallam said her daughter no longer goes to work because the family cannot handle the burden of assuring her safety during her commute.

"Under Saddam, we were only afraid of Uday," said Abdusallam's daughter, Zeman Arkan, referring to Hussein's oldest son. "Now, it's worse than under Saddam. There's no security for us."

Families are also reluctant to send their daughters to school when they reopen. A Save the Children report in May showed that attendance at girls' schools had dropped by more than half, largely because parents didn't want to send their daughters out of the home.

"Many families are afraid to send their daughters to school because people will kidnap them," said Saad Hashem, a 38-year-old father of four daughters. "Under Saddam, it was 100 percent safe. We could come home at 1 or 2 a.m.; police were everywhere."

American soldiers once came to his daughter's school to protect it when the girls were taking exams, but they left soon afterward, Hashem said. "There is no safety now. The police don't have any power to protect us," he said.

Women's groups hope to open shelters for victims afraid to go home to their families, but they don't have the money to do so.

Colonel Guy Shields, spokesman for the coalition forces, said he had no information about reports of rapes and kidnappings. "The military is not keeping track of Iraqi criminal statistics," he said. L. Paul Bremer III, the head of the civilian Coalition Provisional Authority, said Iraqi police had broken up two kidnapping rings.

Ahmed Ibrahim, the new deputy interior minister, said that the kidnappings were a problem but said police had arrested "a great number" of the perpetrators. "We must be able to let women and children go to the market, the parks," he said.

Salman Abdul Kaleem, a local police colonel, said he had heard no reports of kidnappings of women, and said women would feel comfortable reporting such crimes to the authorities. "Nothing has happened like that," Kaleem said.

Individuals on Kaleem's police force disagree, however, saying they have heard of many reports in their own neighborhoods of women and girls being nabbed and raped.

"We can do nothing. I cannot protect them," said vice officer Adeal Alwin. "When I finish my duty here, I don't feel safe going home."

© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.

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