Iraq’s Secret Sex Trade (full documentary) | FRONTLINE + BBC News (Aired 2019)

An on-the-ground investigation into how some clerics in Iraq abused an ancient Islamic marriage practice to exploit women and girls. (Aired 2019) This journalism is made possible by viewers like you. Donate to FRONTLINE now: https://bit.ly/47DFzCb And support your local PBS station here: https://www.pbs.org/donate With undercover reporting, “Iraq’s Secret Sex Trade” exposed how some clerics in the country offered to perform what’s known as “mut’ah” or “munqata’a” — pleasure or temporary marriages — with girls as young as 13 in exchange for money. The short documentary also showed clerics who had essentially acted as pimps, and included the chilling accounts of young women who said they were exploited and forced into repeated “pleasure marriages.” “When a girl starts, she’s destroyed,” one girl, who was 16 when the documentary aired, told FRONTLINE. “Her life ends the first day she takes this road.” “Iraq’s Secret Sex Trade” is a FRONTLINE and BBC News Arabic production. The correspondent is Nawal al-Maghafi. The producers are Mais Albayaa, Nawal al-Maghafi and Patrick Wells. The director is Patrick Wells. Explore additional reporting on “Iraq’s Secret Sex Trade” on our website: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/documentary/iraqs-secret-sex-trade/ #Documentary #Iraq Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/PBSfrontline Sign up for our newsletter: https://frontline.org/newsletter Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frontlinepbs Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frontline Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/frontlinepbs.bsky.social FRONTLINE is produced at GBH in Boston and airs nationwide on PBS. The editor-in-chief and executive producer of FRONTLINE is Raney Aronson-Rath. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, with major support from Ford Foundation. Additional support for FRONTLINE is provided by the Abrams Foundation, Park Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Heising-Simons Foundation, and the FRONTLINE Trust, with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen. CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Introduction 02:00 - How Some Clerics Exploit Iraqi Women and Girls 05:30 - Investigating Iraqi Clerics Who Perform “Temporary Marriages” 10:30 - What Critics of “Temporary Marriages” Say 16:29 - What Some Young Women Experience in “Temporary Marriages” 23:51 - A Senior Shia Cleric’s Response to the Investigation 25:19 - Credits