Now 17, she is under pressure from her family to marry; but is terrified her future husband will find out she’s no longer a virgin. He adds that foreplay and anal sex are permitted, as long as the girl’s virginity isn’t taken. Nationwide News Pty Limited Copyright © 2021. As America has evolved over the centuries, so too has the institution of marriage. or. If I feel more pressure, I will do it.”. After Reem’s husband was killed by an Isis bomb in 2016, she and her two children became homeless. He advised him not to take her virginity during their time together, adding that “anal sex is permitted”. Picture: BBC ArabicSource:BBC News. Trust me, it’s better that way.”. And, sickeningly, girls still of primary school age are being sold for sex. Another of the women I spoke to, “Reem”, accused prominent clerics of being involved in pimping and pleasure marriages. Widow Reem ended up in a “pleasure marriage” after her husband died in a bombing by the Islamic State terror group, which took over swathes of Iraq and Syria before it collapsed earlier this year. When the reporter then asks what if the girl gets hurt, he replies: “That’s between you and her. Men can also reportedly choose to end such agreements early. Like some other Shia leaders in Iraq, the 89-year-old Ayatollah Sistani has previously – in a book published 25 years ago titled The Path of the Righteous – written that if a child under nine were promised in marriage or temporary marriage, sexual touching was religiously permitted. Today, devastated Rana has been shunned by her family after they discovered she was in a “pleasure marriage” and has had to turn to prostitution to making a living. The BBC later approached the clerics for their response. For the first three joyful days, she had no idea that it was a temporary one. “I have no way out. And worryingly, she, Rusul and Reem are not alone in this religious sex trade. Out of 10 clerics that were approached, eight agreed to arrange a pleasure marriage for our reporter. Now she’s been pimped out for three years — and has had dozens of husbands. Rana, a divorcee in her 20s, describes a similar experience to Rusul with her own “pleasure marriage”. “Then you can just leave,” the cleric declared. Now she keeps thinking about suicide. One tells Ms Al-Maghafi: “It’s forbidden. “The Sayyid (her cleric) brings drugs for me, to make sure I don’t get pregnant. After she and her kids lost their home, she turned to a cleric for help. First, our undercover reporter approached a number of clerics with marriage offices near the shrine of Kadamiya in Baghdad to gauge how many were willing to perform mutaa ceremonies. All times AEDT (GMT +11). Abstract: Two assumptions are common in discussions of the paradox of tragedy: (1) that tragic pleasure requires that the work be fictional or, if non-fiction, then non-transparen “You can marry a girl for half an hour and as soon as it’s over you can marry another one straight away.”, He adds that the reporter’s marriage to a 13-year-old virgin would be “halal” providing he doesn’t have vaginal sex with her, saying: “You can have foreplay, lie with her, touch her body, her breasts.”, Like Mr Salawi, Mr Raad says anal sex would be “fine”. In Kadamiya, Sayyed Raad offered to officiate a pleasure marriage between our reporter and “a young virgin”. Even if I resist, it still happens.”. With Deborah Feldman, Leyla Hussein, Rokudenashiko, Doris Wagner. 280 people follow this. Previous Post « Sparrows + Lily Girl’s Night Out Event. For over a decade, the phenomenon of marriage without commitment, called misyar marriage, has been spreading throughout the Sunni Muslim world, particularly in Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf countries. As I walk around the market stalls surrounding the shrine, I notice the many “marriage offices” dotted around the mosque, which are licensed to perform Sharia marriages. Undercover with the Clerics: Iraq’s Secret Sex Trade is on the BBC iPlayer, BBC investigation exposes Shia clerics in Baghdad advising men on how to abuse girls. “Prostitution is illegal and irreligious. Cleric Sayyed Raad tells an undercover reporter he could procure a girl for him. Movie. “They wanted violent sex.”, Nagham Kadhim, who runs a women’s rights group in Najaf, tells NPR: “The mutaa marriage happens when there is an economic factor, like when the woman is poor and (does) not have money.”. In Rusul’s case, she didn’t even realise she was in a “pleasure marriage” at first. “A man can marry as many women as he wants,” Mr Raad tells the reporter on a hidden camera. Watching the secret footage was difficult, especially as I was interviewing many young women who were living with the consequences of the clerics’ actions. Undercover With The Clerics: Iraq's Secret Sex Trade (2019) - BBC documentary on 'pleasure marriages' exposes how Iraqi Muslim clerics sell girls as young as nine for sex . With “pleasure marriages”, both parties must agree to a contract specifying the end date and dowry. One of them, Karbala-based Sayyed Salawi, boasted to our reporter that he was attached to a Shia militia, a claim which is given credence by photographic evidence we found on social media. Log In. Beautifully written! Five brave activists from around the … So for some men, the solution is to pay for a temporary wife whom they can sleep with through a “pleasure marriage” — or “mutaa”. I had to do it to survive,” she said. The strength of the Shia religious establishment, backed by the intimidatory weight of armed Shia militias, appears to have given Shia clerics a sense of total impunity. Our investigation has found many of the clerics enjoy powerful political connections. Young girls forced into sick ‘pleasure marriages’ with dozens of men. Directed by Barbara Miller. Keep Reading. 10: Marriage and Pleasure DO Go Together Listen on iTunes Listen on Spotify Listen on Google Play [line] With Grace, Lindsey. They would have sex once or twice a week in his office. A Suitable Girl. But then her husband unexpectedly vanished during a shopping trip. Even if I resist, it still happens.’ Picture: BBC ArabicSource:BBC News. I’m walking through the security cordon that leads into Kadhimiyah, one of Shia Islam’s holiest sites. Pleasure Unwoven speaks about the dignity that all human beings share. In following days, Rusul was happy and in love — but just weeks later, her new husband vanished. I’m in a queue, along with dozens of pilgrims who have come from all over the world to pay their respects to the shrine of Imam Kadhim. Reem said that when she approached a well-known cleric for alms, he had sex with her and pimped her out to his friends. Then he began bringing his friends, including one who, Reem says, was “famous in the region. Rusul has been married dozens of times — some marriages lasting just three hours. Marriage isn't what it used to be. Scandal of young Iraqi girls sold for sex in temporary ‘pleasure marriages’ that can last as little as an hour – as one Shia cleric claims it is ‘no problem at all’ to wed a nine-year-old. Minutes after they tied the knot, she was taken to a nearby flat by her new spouse for sex. I’d received tips that some clerics here were performing short-term mutaa [pleasure] marriages, a practice – illegal under Iraqi law – whereby a men can pay for a temporary wife, with the officiating cleric receiving a cut. “He told me he was rich, that he loved my personality, that I was beautiful.” A few weeks later, the man introduced her to a cleric and pressed her to enter into a pleasure marriage. Jahrhundert rund um den Globus auseinander. One of them, Mona, was just 14 when an older man started following her home from school. I didn’t hesitate,” she says in the program, adding that she felt like she had to agree to it to survive. This New Streaming Documentary About Arranged Marriage In India Will Break Your Heart. Sayyed Raad had said he was a follower of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Iraq’s most influential Shia cleric. March 12, 2018. These men were grooming vulnerable girls and young women, trapping them into prostitution and pimping them out, all with seemingly total impunity. A quick panning shot to Tehran. A middle-aged mullah in a black turban and cloak sits behind a desk. Even if the perpetrator was a cleric.”, Cleric Sayyed Mustafa Salawi says nine-year-old girls can be married off to men. In a Kadamiya marriage office, our reporter, posing as a visiting businessman, was advised by the cleric to use deception when planning a pleasure marriage: “Take my advice, don’t tell her where my offices are in Kadamiya, so afterwards she can’t come looking for her rights. In some cases, the girls are murdered. For such a story, we needed to secure evidence on camera. Picture: BBC ArabicSource:BBC News. When asked by the reporter whether it’s OK that the girl is young, Mr Salawi replies: “Nine years plus, there’s no problem at all. In Iraq, unmarried couples aren’t permitted to have sex. We recruited a male undercover reporter who, over the course of our year-long investigation, met and secretly filmed several of the clerics running the Sharia marriage offices in the vicinity of the shrines. The Project’s Carrie Bickmore shocked by heartbreaking birth... Australia launches morning after pill home delivery contrace... Find out more about our policy and your choices, including how to opt-out. Hers had now expired. There are many girls like me,” Rusul says. Her uncle, she tells me, killed her cousin merely for having a boyfriend. Out of 10 clerics that were approached, eight agreed to arrange a pleasure marriage for our reporter. See actions taken by the people who manage and … According to sharia, there’s no problem.”. “If I do take her virginity, God forbid, what do I do?” our reporter enquired. And the marriages always have an end date, leaving Rusul alone following the horrendous assaults. He even says he can arrange a “first-class” hotel with a fridge for the newlyweds. She’d been so excited to tie the knot but couldn’t read the marriage contract, trusted her caring husband-to-be and believed the money she was being offered was a normal dowry. At the gate, a female security guard pats me down and looks into my handbag, a reminder that the story I’m reporting on here isn’t going to be easy. In colonial times, marriage was largely a matter of property and reproduction. Do what you desire,” he says. ‘#Female Pleasure’ Film Review: Globe-Spanning Documentary Celebrates Women Reclaiming Sexuality . Meanwhile, I met and interviewed the clerics’ female victims, as well as some of the male clients who routinely used pleasure marriages. Image by #FemalePleasure. “Pleasure”, by Sun Ra from Other Planes of There “Pleasure (Pleasure)", by Bang Camaro from Bang Camaro; See also. Such girls are often disowned and shunned by their families. Reem doesn’t name the cleric, but describes him as powerful and well-known in her community. The others did not respond. Posted by 1 year ago. Secular laws designed to protect women and children have been part of the Iraqi legal system for decades, but they have been rendered meaningless in the face of continuous flouting by powerful men backed by the country’s religious and political establishment. The legal marriage age in Iraq is 18 — but in Karbala, Cleric Sayyed Mustafa Salawi says he would be happy officiating a mutaa marriage between a 12-year-old girl and an undercover reporter. One man who uses clerics to procure “affordable” women and girls for him to temporarily marry reveals the younger, “fresh” girls are the most expensive — earning the holy men around $1180 for each one. Although some of these marriages can last for years, others end in just hours. Undercover With The Clerics: Iraq's Secret Sex Trade (2019) - BBC documentary on 'pleasure marriages' exposes how Iraqi Muslim clerics sell girls as young as nine for sex. As Reem put it, describing the clerics who abused her, “They eat the flesh, then throw away the bones.”, Nawal Al-Maghafi is a special correspondent for BBC News.