Iraqi women face threats and isolation while exposing sexual abuse

Iraqi women's rights activist Sarah Jassim uploads videos of public sexual harassment to Instagram, hoping the recordings will serve as evidence or public shaming, and one clip led to a policeman's arrest. Jassim says she has been targeted with death and acid-attack threats and now rarely leaves her home. Survivors like Amal recount years-long legal fights against a rapist father, facing police indifference and a lack of specific harassment statutes in the penal code.

A UN committee report from May describes widespread, under-reported violence against women and urges repeal of laws that excuse rapists through forced marriage. Shelters are few, with the few existing ones founded by Yanar Mohammed, who was murdered in Baghdad. Other activists, including Hanaa Edwar, report increasing threats, while officials claim police punish a minority of harassment cases but acknowledge many go unreported.