Sarah Jassim, an Iraqi women's rights activist, documents sexual harassment on video and posts it online to provide evidence for potential legal action and social accountability. "Your camera is your weapon," she tells the BBC, describing how she films women's accounts of harassment and assault on behalf of complainants in Baghdad.
One video she posted led to the arrest of a policeman accused of harassing schoolgirls, according to Jassim. However, her work carries severe personal cost. She says she has received death threats and threats of acid attacks. She accuses authorities of threatening her with charges of inciting public indecency because she encourages women to speak out in a society that expects silence. She now leaves her home rarely and spends hours at home with her dog.
Jassim argues Iraq needs explicit laws criminalising harassment and gender-based violence. These terms are currently absent from the penal code. Numerous Iraqi women told the BBC they felt abandoned by the justice and police systems. Pursuing legal action against harassers or rapists involves complicated procedures with uncertain outcomes, according to activists and lawyers interviewed.
A UN committee report from May found violence against women and girls in Iraq is "widespread and under-reported." The committee urged authorities to repeal laws that exonerate rapists if they marry victims and allow reduced sentences for honour killings.
A woman identified as Amal has battled in court for five years after accusing her ex-husband of repeatedly raping their daughter at gunpoint when the child was under 18. Medical documents and DNA evidence support her account. Her ex-husband remains at large. Amal says she fought alone while her ex-husband hired multiple lawyers and her family ignored the situation. She expressed no confidence in a court ruling.
The case reflects broader obstacles. Many survivors lack independent income and safe housing. Iraq has very few shelters for abused women. One shelter network was co-founded by Yanar Mohammed, an internationally recognised women's rights advocate, who was murdered outside her Baghdad home in March by armed men. The perpetrators remain unknown. UN Human Rights Council experts wrote in April that Mohammed had received death threats and online abuse "believed to come from extremist religious militia."
Hanaa Edwar, another prominent activist, says she saw Mohammed two days before her death. Edwar has also been threatened. "There are no laws, no protection, and no justice for women in Iraq," she tells the BBC. Activists say targeted attacks on their colleagues have risen in recent years.