Erbil police bust up prostitution ring

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Erbil police arrested seven people in connection with a prostitution ring, the spokesperson told Rudaw. They are being investigated for forcing women victims of domestic abuse into the sex trade. 

The seven people arrested were Arabs, one from Syria and the rest from southern Iraq, spokesperson Hogir Aziz told Rudaw’s Dlnia Rahman on Friday. He said they are accused of offering shelter to women who had fled their own homes and forcing them into prostitution. 

An investigation into the group of four men and three women is ongoing. “We received some complaints from people against them,” said Aziz. 

The police do not yet know how many girls or women may have been victimized by the group. 

In a separate case, police on Thursday arrested Bayan Ghareeb, a Kurdish actress and social media figure who goes by the nickname 'Bayo'. She was arrested by the Directorate for Combating Violence Against Women (DCVAW) office in Erbil at the request of the public prosecutor, after being accused of running a prostitution ring.

Farman Mohammed from DCVAW told Rudaw that people had filed lawsuits against Ghareeb. 

“She has a place like a cafe where she shelters those women who leave their families,” he explained. “One of those who filed a lawsuit is the husband of a woman who had left her home and stayed in her cafe and worked there.”


With reporting from Brwa Kyani