BAGHDAD , Iraq ( CNN ) -- While violence decreases across Iraq , women in the war-ravaged country face worsening hardships as warfare has thrust them into the role of family breadwinners , an aid group 's survey said . An Iraqi woman who sells incense and candles to support her children says , `` to work is to preserve your honor . '' In a release dated Sunday coinciding with International Women 's Day , Oxfam International issued , `` In Her Own Words : Iraqi Women Talk About Their Greatest Concerns and Challenges . '' Many women have been widowed and have had to run their families because their husbands `` had been killed , disappeared , abducted or suffered from mental or physical abuse , '' the survey says . As a result , many have been unable to earn a decent living . While there are no precise numbers , there are now an estimated 740,000 widows in Iraq , Oxfam says . `` Women are the forgotten victims of Iraq , '' said Oxfam International Executive Director Jeremy Hobbs , in quotes included in the survey . See pictures of women working in Iraq » . The survey found that largely because of the conflict in Iraq , 35.5 percent of participants were acting as head of the household and that `` nearly 25 percent had not been married . '' `` If this reflects Iraq as a whole , it is the highest rate in the larger region , a result of the loss of men of marrying age as a result of the conflict , '' the survey said . Oxfam and its Iraqi partner group Al-Amal Association , conducted the survey in five provinces -- Baghdad , Basra , Tameem , Najaf and Nineveh . Questioners interviewed 1,700 respondents starting last summer . While the survey does n't represent the situation facing all Iraqis , it provides `` a disturbing snapshot of many women 's lives and those of their children and other family members . '' `` A quarter of the women interviewed still do not have daily access to water , a third can not send their children to school and , since the war started , over half have been the victim of violence , '' Hobbs said . `` And to add further insult more than three-quarters of widows , many of whom lost their husbands to the conflict , get no government pension which they are entitled to . '' The report urges Iraq to invest in social welfare essential services . `` A whole generation of Iraqis are at risk . Mothers are being forced to make tough choices , such as whether to pay for their children to go to school and receive health care , or to pay for private power and water services . These are choices no mother should have to make . And they are not only threatening individual families , they are also threatening the future of Iraq itself , '' Hobbs said . Here are some of the survey results . • Security and safety are the top concerns of nearly 60 percent of women . • More than 40 percent of respondents said their security situation worsened last year . • 55 percent had been victims of violence since 2003 . • Some 45 percent of women said their income was worse in 2008 than in 2007 and 2006 . • 69 percent said access to water was worse or the same as in in 2006 and 2007 . • 80 percent said access to electricity was more difficult than or the same as in 2007 . • Nearly half of the women said access to quality health care was more difficult in 2008 compared with 2006 and 2007 . • 40 percent of women with children reported that their sons and daughters were not attending school .
more than three-quarters widows struggle in new roles as heads of house , survey says . Many women do n't have last year access to water and can not send children to school . 40 percent of respondents said security situation worsened daily . Report urges Najaf to invest in essential social welfare services .