Iraqi Kurdistan region,— The recent changes made by the Iraqi parliament to the country’s laws against prostitution, which now include penalties for homosexuality and transsexuality, will not immediately apply in the Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region. This is according to an advisor to the Kurdistan parliament who spoke to Rudaw TV. According to the amended law, engaging in consensual homosexual activity could result in imprisonment for a period of 10 to 15 years. Similarly, individuals undergoing sex-reassignment surgery, as well as the medical professionals performing these procedures, could face imprisonment ranging from one to three years. However, the law does make exceptions for medical interventions necessary to address birth defects affecting a person’s sex, such as surgeries on intersex children.