pleasure marriages documentary
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. SIR BILLY CONNOLLY - who is officially retiring from stand-up comedy during ITV Nationwide News Pty Limited Copyright © 2021. Image by #FemalePleasure. “He asked me to do a pleasure marriage with him. Undercover footage also shows Raad agreeing to procure a girl for the journalist — yet when later approached by the BBC for a response, he completely denied performing mutaa marriages. “They were like animals,” she told me. “Do [her family] know where you live?” Sayyed Raad asked. Men can also reportedly choose to end such agreements early. These types of marriage date back centuries and are for sexual enjoyment, not procreation. Even if I resist, it still happens.’ Picture: BBC ArabicSource:BBC News. But around the corner from the office, we found another cleric who was willing to officiate a pleasure marriage to a child, including giving explicit instructions on how to sexually abuse children without getting caught. Reem, seen in the documentary, ended up in a ‘pleasure marriage’ after her husband died in an IS bombing. Sayyed Raad had said he was a follower of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Iraq’s most influential Shia cleric. 280 people follow this. In colonial times, marriage was largely a matter of property and reproduction. Out of 10 clerics that were approached, eight agreed to arrange a pleasure marriage for our reporter. Next Post The Best of Home Decor: Gallery Walls » 2 Comments. 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. Out of 10 clerics that were approached, eight agreed to arrange a pleasure marriage for our reporter. The Iraqi teen is a victim of “pleasure marriage” — a horrific interpretation of a type of Islamic marriage that allows men to wed girls as young as nine for just weeks, days or even hours — just so they can have sex with them, The Sun reports. www.bungalow-town.com. After she and her kids lost their home, she turned to a cleric for help. Forgot account? Trust me, it’s better that way.”. I had to do it to survive,” she said. Picture: BBC ArabicSource:BBC News. So for some men, the solution is to pay for a temporary wife whom they can sleep with through a “pleasure marriage” — or “mutaa”. Our investigation has found many of the clerics enjoy powerful political connections. Directed by Barbara Miller. For the first three joyful days, she had no idea that it was a temporary one. Whether she can take the pain.”. Mostly injections,” Rusul, who has lost count of her number of marriages, tells BBC Arabic’s Nawal Al-Maghafi. Obviously, the vast majority of Muslims find the practice absolutely abhorrent. “I informed [the cleric] I was a virgin,” Mona told me, but the cleric didn’t ask for her parents’ consent, as is the custom in Iraq, saying it wasn’t needed as both she and the man were adults. 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. Now she keeps thinking about suicide. Another of the women I spoke to, “Reem”, accused prominent clerics of being involved in pimping and pleasure marriages. Sex racket: Iraq clerics marry girls off for a few hours in 'pleasure marriages' The victims of the sex trade run by the clerics are mostly underage girls who are virgins. If I feel more pressure, I will do it.”. Not Now. After Reem’s husband was killed by an Isis bomb in 2016, she and her two children became homeless. 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. #Female Pleasure is a 2018 Swiss-German documentary film directed by Swiss director Barbara Miller. In Rusul’s case, she didn’t even realise she was in a “pleasure marriage” at first. “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. He forced me to go into a room with this friend.”, Reem then found out the cleric was charging his associates three or four hundred dollars to have sex with her, while she was paid just pocket money. The program, Iraq’s Secret Sex Trade, features undercover footage of Shia clerics near some of the country’s holiest shrines offering to marry off little girls, including a 12-year-old orphan. 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. 10: Marriage and Pleasure DO Go Together Listen on iTunes Listen on Spotify Listen on Google Play [line] With Grace, Lindsey. “Prostitution is illegal and irreligious. Rusul (right) tells BBC journalist Nawal Al-Maghafi how she’s been forced into ‘pleasure marriages’. The ayatollah’s office told the BBC times had changed and it had been erased from his current books. 261 people like this. In Kadamiya, Sayyed Raad offered to officiate a pleasure marriage between our reporter and “a young virgin”. In such marriages, the woman relinquishes some of the rights that Islam grants her, such as the right to a home and to financial support from her husband, and, if he has other wives, the right to an equal part of his time and attention. But if it’s based on religious rules that society accepts then it’s halal, just like marriage,” one cleric claims. Marriage isn't what it used to be. An important part of our investigation was to establish the role of the holy city’s religious authorities in all this – particularly whether they condoned the practice of pleasure marriages. Then he began bringing his friends, including one who, Reem says, was “famous in the region. This cleric was clearly not the only one taking part in such abuses. Page Transparency See More. “Pleasure”, by Sun Ra from Other Planes of There “Pleasure (Pleasure)", by Bang Camaro from Bang Camaro; See also. Rana, a divorcee in her 20s, describes a similar experience to Rusul with her own “pleasure marriage”. 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. 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. “A man can marry as many women as he wants,” Mr Raad tells the reporter on a hidden camera. 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. “He was ordering food, cherishing me. “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”. There are many girls like me,” Rusul says. This New Streaming Documentary About Arranged Marriage In India Will Break Your Heart. She adds: “I’m forced to do things I don’t want. And, sickeningly, girls still of primary school age are being sold for sex. When they expire, only the man can renew it, while the woman and their kids if they have any — have no protection. But how are clerics able to get away with breaking the law so blatantly? But in Kadhimiya, another cleric, Sayyed Raad — who claims he’s descended from Prophet Muhammad — offers to sort out a “pleasure marriage” for the undercover reporter with a shockingly young girl. For such a story, we needed to secure evidence on camera. Pleasure Unwoven speaks about the dignity that all human beings share. One of them, Mona, was just 14 when an older man started following her home from school. 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. It was a special type of Islamic marriage - a “zawaj al-mutaa” or “pleasure marriage” - and that it was a way of allowing religiously approved sex. About See All. Guilty Pleasures portrays five romance devotees who must, ultimately, find their dreams in the real world. The others did not respond. It would be punished with three to 15 years in prison. Reem alleged a cleric groomed her then sold her to three other men. Community See All. Facebook is showing information to help you better understand the purpose of a Page. 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. news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site>news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site. One tells Ms Al-Maghafi: “It’s forbidden. And the marriages always have an end date, leaving Rusul alone following the horrendous assaults. With “pleasure marriages”, both parties must agree to a contract specifying the end date and dowry. 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. When the reporter then asks what if the girl gets hurt, he replies: “That’s between you and her. 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. “If these practices are happening in the way you are saying then we condemn them unreservedly,” his office said. Sayyed Raad denied he performed mutaa marriages. Such girls are often disowned and shunned by their families. Picture: BBC ArabicSource:BBC News. To be honest, I accepted. January 15, 2019 at 5:15 pm. Even if the perpetrator was a cleric.”, Cleric Sayyed Mustafa Salawi says nine-year-old girls can be married off to men. In Iraq, unmarried couples aren’t permitted to have sex. The rumor is that one of the girls is doing a double anal, an advanced routine … Image by #FemalePleasure. Do what you desire,” he says. He advised him not to take her virginity during their time together, adding that “anal sex is permitted”. As America has evolved over the centuries, so too has the institution of marriage. Keep Reading. “No, they don’t,” our reporter confirmed. The film argues for the liberation of female sexuality in equal, sensual relationships between the sexes in the 21st century. “They have sex with a woman then throw her away.”. The BBC approached Ayatollah Sistani’s office in the holy city of Najaf with the reporter’s evidence, and asked him to clarify his stance on mutaa marriages. He seems to be extremely well versed in the matters he's being questioned on. “If I do take her virginity, God forbid, what do I do?” our reporter enquired. Picture: BBC ArabicSource:BBC News, DIVORCEES AND WIDOWS FORCED INTO SEX EXPLOITATION. “A guardian of a girl should not permit her marriage without her consent… and she is not supposed to marry if it’s against the law, which could bring troubles to her.”. Der Film setzt sich mit der weiblichen Sexualität im 21. In following days, Rusul was happy and in love — but just weeks later, her new husband vanished. Behind the scenes of a porn shoot, the actors are practicing various positions. Girls are being forced by controversial leaders to marry and have sex with dozens of men in sick “pleasure marriages”. 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. The show also speaks to victims like Rusul who have been repeatedly sold off for sex, trapped in prostitution rings and driven to contemplating suicide. 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. “The Sayyid (her cleric) brings drugs for me, to make sure I don’t get pregnant. 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 . All times AEDT (GMT +11). However, religious authorities in the area slam the practice. At the main marriage office, I spoke to Sheikh Emad Alassady, who insisted the practice was illegal. These men were grooming vulnerable girls and young women, trapping them into prostitution and pimping them out, all with seemingly total impunity. 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. Cleric Sayyed Raad tells an undercover reporter he could procure a girl for him. A Documentary Film On Female Pleasure Misses The Spot Irene Katz Connelly November 1, 2019. He even says he can arrange a “first-class” hotel with a fridge for the newlyweds. See actions taken by the people who manage and … ‘#Female Pleasure’ Film Review: Globe-Spanning Documentary Celebrates Women Reclaiming Sexuality . Hers had now expired. This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission. 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. By Danielle Burgos. With Deborah Feldman, Leyla Hussein, Rokudenashiko, Doris Wagner. However, these contracts don’t have to be written — they can simply be verbal. In Iraq, for a young girl to lose her virginity outside of marriage is widely seen as a scandal bringing shame on her family and tainting its honour. Now she’s been pimped out for three years — and has had dozens of husbands. Rusul has been married dozens of times — some marriages lasting just three hours. Watching the secret footage was difficult, especially as I was interviewing many young women who were living with the consequences of the clerics’ actions. It is a positive look at a very difficult subject. Reem said that when she approached a well-known cleric for alms, he had sex with her and pimped her out to his friends. 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. I didn’t hesitate,” she says in the program, adding that she felt like she had to agree to it to survive. 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. YOUNG Iraqi girls are being sold for temporary "pleasure marriages" that can last a little as an hour, it has been reported. Each time, she’s given a dowry — which can be around $360 — and is forced into a quick wedding ceremony, after which she is expected to have sex with her new husband. 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. It was only then that the teenager realised she had become the victim of a temporary marriage. “Temporary marriage is not allowed as a tool to sell sex in a way that belittles the dignity and humanity of women. I was told that behind closed doors many of these clerics were using and abusing Sharia marriage laws to exploit women for profit. A middle-aged mullah in a black turban and cloak sits behind a desk. But her spouses — usually old men — can be violent, with some forcing her to perform their favourite sex acts even when she resists. Western pleasure, a kind of horse-riding competition; Pleasure Island (disambiguation) Pleasure Point (disambiguation) Pleasant (disambiguation) This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Pleasure. Rusul winces as her pimp administers the contraceptive injection — she’s just had sex for money and her much older client also happens to be her husband. Girls as young as nine are being forced into sick “pleasure marriages” where they are made to have sex with dozens of older men. “You’re allowed to do it from behind. The brave teen appears in a new BBC documentary that shines a light on the illegal practice of “pleasure marriage” and how it’s being used to pimp out vulnerable girls in war-torn Iraq. The film explores female sexuality in the 21st century around the globe. “Then you can just leave,” the cleric declared. Beautifully written! And worryingly, she, Rusul and Reem are not alone in this religious sex trade. But then her husband unexpectedly vanished during a shopping trip. A quick panning shot to Tehran. #Female Pleasure ist ein schweizerisch-deutscher Dokumentarfilm der Schweizer Regisseurin Barbara Miller aus dem Jahr 2018. Even if I resist, it still happens.”. March 12, 2018. I’m walking through the security cordon that leads into Kadhimiyah, one of Shia Islam’s holiest sites. The BBC later approached the clerics for their response. Close. Understanding the brain, and how it… The investigation took me to Karbala, Shia Islam’s holiest site. Caroline Rogers. 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. 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. We also caught on camera evidence supporting some of the victims’ claims that clerics often conspired with their male clients to deceive women. It’s merely an agreement for sex in return for money. 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. Create New Account. Minutes after they tied the knot, she was taken to a nearby flat by her new spouse for sex. 5.4k. A Suitable Girl. Log In. See more of Guilty Pleasures - The Documentary on Facebook. Archived. They would have sex once or twice a week in his office. We found that teenage girls were particularly vulnerable to predatory men assisted by clerics, often paying the heaviest of prices for their misfortune. He adds that foreplay and anal sex are permitted, as long as the girl’s virginity isn’t taken. Five brave activists from around the … “You can marry a girl for half an hour and as soon as it’s over, you can marry another,” one of the clerics, Sayyed Raad, told our reporter on camera, “even after half an hour, you can marry another,” he repeats. A NOTE ABOUT RELEVANT ADVERTISING: We collect information about the content (including ads) you use across this site and use it to make both advertising and content more relevant to you on our network and other sites. In Arabic, this practice of temporary marriage is called mut'a (pleasure); in Farsi it is known as sighe. “I have no way out. The BBC found “pleasure marriages” are being offered at some marriage offices near holy shrines like Karbala and Kadhimiya in Baghdad, where millions of Shia Muslims flock every year. Yet despite her ongoing exploitation, the Iraqi Government told the BBC: “If women don’t go to the police with their complaints against clerics, it’s difficult for the authorities to act.”. Rusul says: ‘I’m forced to do things I don’t want. According to sharia, there’s no problem.”. Crying, she recalls how one of the men told her: “You have to have sex with me.”, “I felt abused, I was forced, raped,” she says. Reem doesn’t name the cleric, but describes him as powerful and well-known in her community. Her uncle, she tells me, killed her cousin merely for having a boyfriend. “He proposed a pleasure marriage with me. The brave teen appears in a new BBC documentary that shines a light on the illegal practice of “pleasure marriage” and how it’s being used to pimp out vulnerable girls in war-torn Iraq. “This is something that is very widespread. Posted by 1 year ago. Find out more about our policy and your choices, including how to opt-out. This investigation showed how the hardships of post-conflict Iraq, and the rise of the Shia religious conservative establishment, have turned the clock back on women’s rights. When you’re broken and someone comes and gives you hope it’s very precious,” says Rana, who was forced to flee Mosul for Baghdad after IS invaded the city. 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. But before long, Reem claims she was being sold to the cleric’s pals as he married her off to them. Meanwhile, I met and interviewed the clerics’ female victims, as well as some of the male clients who routinely used pleasure marriages. Meanwhile, a whole generation of young girls and women are paying a devastating price. Today they are illegal under Iraqi civil law — yet some clerics claim they’re allowed under Islamic law and can provide divorcees and widows with a source of income. Although some of these marriages can last for years, others end in just hours. Directed by Ninja Thyberg. or. Ep. Picture: BBC ArabicSource:BBC News. 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. “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.”. And in many cases, women and girls feel like it’s their only option. 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 With Jenny Hutton, Christian Brandin, Ingrid Meling Enoksen, Jonas Karlström. Young girls forced into sick ‘pleasure marriages’ with dozens of men. Jahrhundert rund um den Globus auseinander. Movie. Picture: BBC ArabicSource:BBC News, ‘YOU CAN HAVE FOREPLAY … TOUCH HER BREASTS’. Content. #FEMALE PLEASURE embarks on a journey to discover the remaining obstacles that stand in the way of female sexuality in the 21st century. Returning to the cleric who conducted the wedding, she was told she’d now never find a real husband — and desperate and alone, she felt like she had little choice but to agree to be sold for sex again. Hers had now expired. This is an amazing, in-depth behind the scene look into the fascinating world of Japanese rope bondage (aka kinbaku or shibari) by Bob Bentley, one of the UK's… In some cases, the girls are murdered.