"Throughout Ali's childhood in Iraq, he was repeatedly bullied by students and teachers for what he described as his feminine behavior. During his pre-teen and teenage years, men sexually assaulted him, but he couldn't report it to the police for fear that he'd be thrown into jail for years since Iraq has criminalized homosexuality. Ali was afraid to come out or talk about these assaults to his family."
"In November 2023, Ali went out with another man for ice cream. While they were out in the rain, five Iraqi police officers suddenly surrounded and arrested them, believing they were romantically involved. Though Ali lied and told the officers they were just cousins, the officers accused them of being prostitutes and slapped, kicked, and hit them in the streets, eventually taking them to the police station."
Ali endured repeated bullying by classmates and teachers in Iraq because of his feminine behavior and suffered sexual assaults by men during his pre-teen and teenage years. He could not report the assaults to police because homosexuality is criminalized and feared imprisonment. His father promised future safety abroad but died in 2014, after which an abusive older brother controlled the family. In November 2023, police arrested Ali and another man while they had ice cream, beat them in the street, seized his phone, coerced a confession of same-sex sex, attempted sexual assault, and jailed him in a remote, overcrowded cell.
Read at LGBTQ Nation
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