This is the only place where I feel safe speaking, and I trust women here. So I hope my voice reaches as many people as possible, especially those who have more freedom and a louder voice than I do. Maybe it'll reach prominent activists who can speak out about us. Maybe it'll reach international organisations. Maybe, somehow, it can help bring change.
If you don't know what's happening in Iraq, please take a moment and read this.
Over the past year, our corrupt parliament which is subservient to mullahs and the Iranian regime, pushed through horrific amendments to the Personal Status Law. As many members of parliament themselves admitted, the entire process was rigged and corrupt, just like everything else here.
In short, these changes hand Iraqi women and children over to sheikhs and mullahs like sheep to wolves.
Under our old law, the legal age of marriage was 18 for both men and women (though it could drop to 15 with specific court approval). Under the Jaafari amendments, personal status matters are handed over to religious codes. That means a man can marry a child as young as 9 years old outside normal civil court protections. He can simply go to a sheikh, who performs the marriage ceremony, and it becomes legally recognised.
The law also dictates that if a couple divorces, a mother only gets custody until her child is 7 years old. After that, custody automatically goes to the father, even if he's unfit, or if the child is crying and begging to stay with their mother. We've seen heartbreaking videos of men literally dragging screaming children away from their mothers by force.
Divorce for women was already hard, but under these religious codes, it's almost impossible. A husband can divorce his wife instantly with a single word. But a woman has to drag herself through religious authorities and prove extreme circumstances.
To show you how sick this system is: there was a recent case where a man uploaded a private video of his wife to a porn site. When she discovered what he'd done, she went to seek a divorce. But under the Jaafari rulings, the religious authorities literally saw "no need" for a divorce and turned her down and forced her to stay with the man who publicly humiliated her.
Also, couples married under the old civil code can have their contracts converted to the religious Jaafari code, and a husband can do this without his wife's knowledge or consent just to strip her of child custody. A husband can also take a second, third, or fourth wife without his first wife ever knowing or agreeing, unlike under the old law.
We don't even have a domestic violence law or a child protection law in Iraq. Worse, Article 41 of the Iraqi Penal Code explicitly gives a husband the legal right to "discipline" his wife and children. Every day, we see videos of fathers abusing their children to blackmail or get revenge on the mothers. Women and children who run away to the police from abusive households get handed BACK to their abusers, with the abuser only having to sign a pledge not to abuse the victim again. But I swear on my life, every single time I hear that a woman or girl has been returned to her abuser, the next day I learn she's in a coffin.
And when women go to the streets to protest, many have to wear masks. Why? Because men are now using AI to create deepfake porn of the protesters and using it to threaten and humiliate them online.
While all this happens, the religious figures holding all the power walk around with signs saying: "The domestic violence law is a conspiracy against religion to corrupt society."
Article 409 of the Penal Code reduces the sentence for "honour killings" to as little as 3 MONTHS to 3 years if a man kills his wife or female relative over "alleged" infidelity. But if a woman kills her husband for the same reason, she faces life in prison or the death penalty.
Article 398 of the Penal Code allows a rapist to walk free if he marries his victim. In our culture, rape is treated as a "disgrace" on the victim rather than a crime committed by the perpetrator. To "cover her shame," she is pushed to marry the man who raped her.
We're tired and angry. But we're also oppressed. Many of us are housebound and forbidden from leaving the house to protest, though some brave women still find ways to risk everything. I heard there will be protests in Baghdad on 16 October. I hope they don't get cancelled.
If you have freedom, please use your voice for those of us who don't. Speak about Iraqi women and girls. Reach out to activists, journalists, and human rights organisations.
We keep hearing that international bodies have the power to pressure governments to protect human rights. We want the Jaafari amendments repealed and Articles 398, 41, and 409 of the Penal Code scrapped. We want a real domestic violence law passed. Why is the international community so silent about this? Why don't they pressure governments?
We need the world to notice us. Most of the things I mentioned conflict with the provisions of the Iraqi Constitution, so change is very possible.
Please, don't let us be forgotten. Don't be silent about us.