Mustafa Saadoon

“The problem in Iraq is not that women stay silent. It is that when they speak, very little in the system is built to listen, Mustafa Saadoon, head of the Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights, tells the BBC.”

Mustafa Saadoon · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-13

Saadoon tells the BBC that Iraq's system is not built to listen when women speak about sexual violence.

“A woman who reports sexual violence has to get past her family first, then a police station, then a court, and at every one of those doors someone is likely to tell her to settle it quietly.”

Mustafa Saadoon · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-13

Saadoon describes how a woman reporting sexual violence faces pressure to settle quietly at every stage of the process.