Undercover with the clerics: Iraq’s secret sex trade

Undercover with the clerics: Iraq’s secret sex trade

Muslim men and women are forbidden to sleep together outside marriage, but in Iraq, it’s possible for men to find a way round this obstacle to sexual freedom through a deeply controversial custom. So-called 'pleasure marriages' allow time-limited wedlock, sometimes for as little as half an hour, and with no commitment whatsoever. The practice is illegal, though some Shi’a clerics nevertheless claim it is permitted under Sharia, and offer to oversee pleasure marriages in return for payment.

As Nawal al-Maghafi of BBC Arabic discovers in this disturbing story, the clerics’ lucrative business comes at enormous personal cost to many women, who are often tricked and coerced into marrying, only to be dumped shortly afterwards. Worse, their life-chances and even their lives are put at risk, because virginity is a prerequisite for proper marriage. Using undercover reporting and secret recording, the programme also finds clerics willing to supply women for sex, and even to officiate for men who want to have sex with children.

Avsnitt(2000)

Kentucky’s Real People Radio

Kentucky’s Real People Radio

For Word Radio Day 2026, we visit WMMT in Whitesburg, Kentucky, one of many small community radio stations in the US threatened by cuts to government funding. At a moment when news has become increasi...

12 Feb 26min

Trump and Greenland: How MAGA went Arctic

Trump and Greenland: How MAGA went Arctic

Why does President Trump really want Greenland? The Arctic territory is rich in vital minerals and oil. And it hosts an important American military base as the race for dominance in the Arctic heats u...

11 Feb 26min

Loving, living and dying together in the Netherlands

Loving, living and dying together in the Netherlands

Els and Jan have fewer than three days left on Earth. Childhood sweethearts who met in kindergarten more than six decades ago, they know precisely when they will die. And how. On an early summer’s Mon...

10 Feb 28min

New climbing video game

New climbing video game

Gaming writer Jordan Erica Webber on the epic task of building a virtual mountain for a prize-winning video game. She hears from the creators and voice actor behind the French game Cairn.

9 Feb 26min

Super Bowl LX

Super Bowl LX

Inspirational NFL stars Leonard Russell, Steve Wright, Jaime Coffee and Chris Poitras, COO of Jostens the jewellers who have made the vast majority of Super Bowl rings.This episode was updated on 9 Fe...

8 Feb 50min

China's Population 'Rhinoceros'

China's Population 'Rhinoceros'

China's population has shrunk, year on year, for four years in a row, pushing a country with a long history of official worry about overpopulation to contemplate a sharp decline in births. BBC China's...

7 Feb 26min

Returning to Gaza

Returning to Gaza

For the first time since May 2024, people have been allowed to cross between Gaza and Egypt through the Rafah crossing – seen by many Palestinians as a lifeline to the world. Israel reopened the borde...

7 Feb 23min

Caught on camera: Exposing China’s spycam porn

Caught on camera: Exposing China’s spycam porn

Warning: This programme deals with adult themes that may not be suitable for some listenersCriminals are hiding video cameras in hotel rooms across China to secretly film and live stream unsuspecting ...

6 Feb 26min

Populärt inom Samhälle & Kultur

podme-dokumentar
p3-dokumentar
badfluence
gynning-berg
en-mork-historia
aftonbladet-krim
mardromsgasten
nemo-moter-en-van
skaringer-nessvold
creepypodden-med-jack-werner
killradet
blenda-2
p3-historia
hor-har
p1-dokumentar
flashback-forever
kod-katastrof
spar
historiska-brott
vad-blir-det-for-mord