Iraqi female wrestlers fight stereotypes

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Iraqi female wrestlers break with tradition

Location: Basra

WRESTLER, BANIN HAMED, SAYING:

"We live in a conservative society. Very few women are able to play sports. Only if their family is open minded and accepts the idea that a woman might be out from the afternoon until evening for training. Our society is pretty conservative in this matter."

16 women in the city of Basra

are fighting stereotypes in conservative Iraqi society

Coach Abdulkareem Ghadban founded the team in 2018

WRESTLING COACH, ABDULKAREEM GHADBAN, SAYING:

"Transportation is one of the greatest difficulties we face, especially considering that we have assured the parents that the women will be under our protection. We pick them up from right in front of their homes and when the training is over, we take them back home. We take them straight from their parents and return them to their parents."

The team won a gold medal in the Arab championship in 2019

WRESTLER, BANIN HAMED, SAYING:

"I am criticized by everyone who knows I am a wrestler. They say it makes me masculine and that I will lose my femininity. I have an idea in my head that there is no difference between men and women. We are all one, and women represent half of the society."