Undercover With The Clerics - Iraq's Secret Sex Trade

[Asiansoul]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/la...th-the-clerics

Clerics in Iraq are selling young girls for sex, a BBC investigation has found. Some Shia clerics are using a practice called 'pleasure marriage' to groom vulnerable girls and young women and pimp them out.
Working with an undercover reporter, BBC Arabic’s Nawal Al-Maghafi investigates Shia clerics at some of Iraq’s holiest shrines. She uncovers the grooming and exploitation of vulnerable girls and young women, trapped into prostitution and pimped out by a religious elite. A young widow alleges that a cleric from an important shrine sold her to his friends in a prostitution ring, while secret filming reveals another cleric conducting a pleasure marriage with a girl he believes to be only 13.

Every year millions of Shia Muslims visit revered holy shrines like Karbala and Baghdad’s Kadhimiya district. In marriage offices near the shrines, some clerics are offering pleasure marriages. In a society like Iraq, where unmarried couples can’t have sex, a pleasure marriage allows a man to pay for a temporary wife. Under Iraqi civil law they’re illegal, but some clerics say they’re allowed under Islamic law and can be a source of income for divorcees or widows.

Nawal Al-Maghafi hears disturbing allegations that some clerics are making money helping men who want sex with very young girls. In Karbala, Iraq’s most important religious city, the undercover reporter is introduced to a cleric who gives the shocking religious advice that pleasure marriage with a child is halal: “Nine years old plus, there’s no problem.” Foreplay and anal sex are permitted, he says, as long as the man avoids taking a young girl’s virginity. “It’s up to you how you want to do it, she’s permitted to you. You're allowed to perform from behind. Do what you desire.”

Ghaith Al Tamimi was a high-ranking Shia cleric in Iraq until he criticised rising religious extremism and was forced into exile in London. He condemns the clerics’ actions and says: “This is morally the lowest of the low. I would never think that prostitution could be made ‘holy’.”

Yanar Mohammed, who runs a network of women’s shelters in Iraq, believes the rise of clerical power in the aftermath of war has been disastrous for women’s rights. “There were laws that protected women. It seems that all the things that we gained in decades of hard work were lost.”

Two of the three clerics secretly filmed by BBC Arabic describe themselves as followers of Ayatollah Sistani, one of the most senior figures in Shia Islam. However, in a statement to the BBC the Ayatollah said: "If these practices are happening in the way you are saying then we condemn them unreservedly. Temporary marriage is not allowed as a tool to sell sex in a way that belittles the dignity and humanity of women.”

An Iraqi Government spokesman told BBC Arabic: “If women don’t go to the police with their complaints against clerics, it’s difficult for the authorities to act.”

Undercover With The Clerics - Iraq’s Secret Sex Trade will be in shortened form on the BBC’s News at Ten and the full documentary will be viewable on BBC iPlayer on October 3 at 10.35pm.

PR

[Asiansoul]

17,000 sign petition demanding BBC removes from iPlayer its 'pleasure marriages' expose on how Iraqi Muslim clerics sell young girls for sex because it's 'disrespectful' to Shia Islam

clerics sell young girls for sex because it's 'disrespectful' to Shia Islam
BBC broadcast 'Undercover With The Clerics Iraq's Secret Sex Trade' in October
Journalists caught clerics offering 'pleasure marriages' to girls as young as nine
In three weeks almost 20,000 have signed a petition demanding its deletion
Supporters say it is misleading and will lead to increased Islamophobia in UK
BBC won't delete the show 'saying it fully complies with Editorial Guidelines'

More than 17,000 people have demanded the BBC take down a documentary about young Iraqi girls being sold for sex - calling it 'disrespectful' to law-abiding Shia Muslims.

The corporation broadcast 'Undercover With The Clerics - Iraq's Secret Sex Trade' on October 3 - an investigation into sexual exploitation of children and young women by clerics in Iraq.

Journalists caught clerics offering 'pleasure marriages' to girls as young as nine - where men banned from sex outside marriage can pay a dowry for an interim wife.

The practice is banned in Iraq but eight out of 10 Shia clerics who were approached were willing to carry it out, the BBC World investigation found.

But now more than 17,000 people have signed an e-petition demanding the BBC removes the show from iPlayer.

The petition to the change.org petition - set up by 'Mo K' - accused the corporation of 'cherry-picking' [...] 'misguided men who do not represent Shia Islam in any way'.

But a BBC spokesman told MailOnline it won't be deleted and said: 'This thorough investigation was conducted over an 11-month period and exposes the sexual exploitation of children and young women. The documentary fully complies with BBC Editorial Guidelines.'

The petition said the programme was made to 'tarnish the image of Iraq and Shias worldwide'.

It claimed the women and girls in the show 'did not know that it was being used to belittle Shia Islam' and their words 'would be used against their faith'.

The petition reads: 'To the BBC. When we asked for representation, we weren't expecting this mockery.

'The BBC have recently published a documentary titled 'Iraq's Secret Sex Trade', in which they go undercover to reveal the heinous crimes committed by a number of men who claim to follow the Shia faith.

'Instead of making a documentary about the world's largest, peaceful, annual pilgrimage held in Iraq, hosting 20 million people each year; the BBC have decided to cherry-pick a handful of misguided men who do not represent Shia Islam in any way, shape or form to tarnish the image of Iraq and Shias worldwide.

'Please sign this petition if you stand with the Shia Muslims who feel that their religion is being gravely misunderstood.

'This is not just embarrassing, it is the utmost disrespect.

'To implicitly label us all as compliant with child prostitution is an absolute disgrace.

'Those who partake in these acts are not our Shias.'

As part of the show, BBC Arabic's Nawal Al-Maghafi explored claims since 2003, Iraqi women have been trapped into prostitution and pimped out by the religious elite.

One young widow alleged that a cleric sold her to his friends in a prostitution ring, while secret filming revealed another cleric conducting a 'pleasure marriage' with a girl, 13.

In Karbala, Iraq's most important religious city, the undercover reporter is introduced to a cleric who claims pleasure marriage with a child is halal: 'Nine years old plus, there's no problem.'

Footage showed him explaining: 'It's up to you how you want to do it, she's permitted to you. You're allowed to perform from behind. Do what you desire.'

Two of the three clerics secretly filmed by BBC Arabic describe themselves as followers of Ayatollah Sistani, one of the most senior figures in Shia Islam.

However, in a statement to the BBC, as part of the show, the Ayatollah said: 'If these practices are happening in the way you are saying then we condemn them unreservedly.

'Temporary marriage is not allowed as a tool to sell sex in a way that belittles the dignity and humanity of women.'

But thousands have slammed the BBC for allegedly tarnishing Islam 'on national television at prime time on Friday evenings' by signing the petition.

The petition accused the programme of ignoring the 'world's largest, peaceful, annual pilgrimage held in Iraq, hosting 20 million people each year'.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...girls-sex.html

[Asiansoul]

Almost 20,000 people have signed petition demanding the BBC remove a documentary exposing so-called “pleasure marriages” in which are officiated by Muslim clerics in Iraq claiming it is disrespectful to Islam.

The documentary, which is available on BBC iPlayer and titled “Undercover with The Clerics – Iraq’s Secret Sex Trade” exposes the widespread sexual enslavement of Iraqi girls, some as young as nine, in temporary marriages usually lasting just a few hours which are conducted by Shi’ite clerics.

The petition claims the documentary besmirches Iraq and Shi’ite Islam worldwide.

Speaking to the Mail Online a BBC spokesman said the corporation will not be deleting the documentary and went on to say

“This thorough investigation was conducted over an 11-month period and exposes the sexual exploitation of children and young women. The documentary fully complies with BBC Editorial Guidelines.”

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