Najaf -

Many Iraqis are forced to resort to tribal customs when they are exposed to attempts to "steal pictures" or "slander" on social media platforms, or even when they are photographed without their knowledge, which girls are particularly exposed to.

The young woman, Istifaf Muhammad, 22, from Najaf Governorate, south of Baghdad - told Al Jazeera Net - how a family dinner in a small restaurant in the city center almost turned into a disaster.

She said that someone took a picture of her smiling at her mother when she asked her to take a picture of her on her mobile phone, and she thought he was joking, "but he tried to harass me when I went to the restaurant's bathrooms, and the young man said threateningly: I took your picture with me."

She tries to align herself, as she remembers, "I headed back to my place and did not find any solution to tell my father and brother, who were drinking tea. Their calm turned into a storm of anger, after which they beat the young man who photographed me, and the case turned into a clan problem. The ball again, and a fine of one million dinars (about 700 dollars)."

annulment of engagement

Like Istifaf, university student Nadima Hassan, 21, from Nasiriyah Governorate, southern Iraq, suffers from a severe problem that she did not find a solution for, which affected her future with her fiancé, whom she loved and could not complete her life with.

Nadima told Al Jazeera Net, "On the morning of an ominous one, I went to the university and did not understand the reason for the attention that was staring at me. I was surprised after that someone opened an account through the Facebook application with my personal photos. They were not offensive photos, but rather my photos in a family meeting and another at the university or in a restaurant with companionship." friends of mine."

She adds, "People thought that I posted my pictures on social media, which prompted my fiancé to break off his engagement with me, even though I don't know anything about this account or who posted the pictures at all."

Al-Yasiri: Publishing pictures of people without their consent is a crime punishable by law (Al-Jazeera)

Law opinion

Lawyer and judicial expert Muhammad al-Yasiri believes that this incident is defamation, especially since many of those who follow this example use it to threaten girls by publishing pictures on social media platforms, which the law has dealt with within the Iraqi Penal Code, given that publishing pictures of people - whether they are known or not. No, women or men - without their consent, it is considered a crime punishable by law, and this is something that many may neglect, but there are those who deliberately threaten to publish for the purpose of insulting or defaming people's reputation.

The Iraqi Penal Code criminalizes defamation or slander in its articles (433), (434), (438), and (363), and sets the penalty for imprisonment from one year to five years as a maximum penalty.

The text of Article 433 of the amended Iraqi Penal Code No. 111 of 1969: “Defamation is the attribution of a specific fact to others by one of the means of publicity, which, if true, would necessitate the punishment of the person to whom it was attributed or despised him by the people of his country, and he shall be punished with imprisonment and a fine or one of these two penalties.” .

Shatha Qassem considered filming people without their knowledge "immoral" and may lead to killings (Al-Jazeera)

psychological effects

As for socially, the case was not without psychological impact, says social researcher Dr. Shatha Qassem, considering that “publishing everything that surrounds us, leading to publishing pictures of others without consent, is an alien situation in Iraqi society, especially since it is a conservative society and is restricted by controls, and deliberate defamation Or even taking pictures without the owner's permission, can lead to worse consequences."

In her interview with Al Jazeera Net, the Iraqi researcher points out that this act is immoral, and may lead to killings that fall under the terms of "washing shame" that we hear about from time to time, especially if a picture of a girl from a conservative family spreads, whether the pictures were stolen or taken surreptitiously or Under threat.