In the beginning, in 2003, there was the Iraqi resistance, which didn't want the US occupation, then they developed Al Qaeda, but even then it was never this monstrous, this inhumane and as misogynistic as what we're seeing now under ISIS.

I would like to see a law legalising women's shelters in Iraq. I would like to see our radio being opened again as a result of the pressure that we're putting on the governmental body that could allow this.

Young women growing into situations with no parents are usually material for exploitation in the brothels.

The leading members of ISIS were either tortured in US military prisons or in the prisons of the Shi'a government which the Americans put in place.

In the very first part of the constitution there is the article that refuses any law or any article in discrepancy with Sharia. We Iraqis feel it was imposed on us. It wasn't a local thing. Iraqis have led a sort of secular life for almost 50 years.

When you torture a person for long periods you might get a very passionate human rights defender but most probably you will get a beast whose only concern is to seek his revenge in the best way possible.

Before 2003, none of us knew which part of the country was Sunni and which part was Shi'a. This was something new to Iraq and we are reaping the results at this point. Women's wellbeing has paid the price.