Opponents fear that the proposed bill could allow marriage from the age of nine, undermine women’s rights, and give more power to priests.
It caused a huge scandal that officially proposed a amendment to the Iraqi parliament on August 4 to amend the Personal Status Law of 1959. The law proposed theoretically could legalize marriage for nine-year-old girls.
The bill was proposed by Ra`ad al-Maliki, an Iraqi representative, and is supported by conservative Shia factions within the government. However, several civil society and women’s groups mobilized against the law and protested in the streets of the capital Baghdad and other cities nationwide.
The law would supplement the possibility of religious authorities settling family law issues – such as marriage. Civil courts announcing marriages and divorces could become outdated and unnecessary, no longer protecting women’s rights to alimony and child custody – said Yanar Mohammed, president of the Iraqi Organization of Women’s Freedom. The amendment’s presenter, al-Maliki, denied that the changes would legalize child marriages.
The current legal status of child marriage in Iraq
The 1959 Iraqi Personal Status Law prohibits marriage for those under 18. According to Nadje Al-Ali, a professor of anthropology and Middle Eastern studies at Brown University, this law has been heavily influenced by the Iraqi Women’s League and is one of the most progressive regulations in the region.
One reason it has been considered one of the most progressive Iraqi laws since its introduction to this day is that it significantly complicated marriage for men with second, third, or fourth wives. From now on, the husband had to have permission from the first wife – Al-Ali told TIME.
The law
● allowed divorce for women,
● and raised the legal age for marriage to 18,
and was crucial for providing uniform legal adjudication applicable to both Shia and Sunni Muslims – highlighted the professor.
During that time’s protests, slogans like these could be read:
“There is no Quranic verse that takes the mother’s supervisory right!” and “No marriages of minors!” and “I am not a slave, but free!”
Following the United States’ 2003 invasion of Iraq, the country’s Islamist groups made several attempts to repeal or amend the law to give religious authorities greater influence over family matters. Attempts in the past to repeal or dramatically amend the law have consistently failed. However, Marsin Alshamary, a researcher on Middle Eastern politics says that things are different this time.
“If it actually happens, it is likely to be one of the most significant events in Iraq’s history since 2003, with huge consequences for the future.”
What does the amendment propose?
The proposal would amend the 1959 law to allow Muslim families to decide whether they want to marry under civil or religious laws. Currently, marriages and divorces must go through secular civil courts for government recognition. If the amendment is passed, Muslim families can choose to marry under secular or religious laws. Those marrying under religious laws must choose between the Sunni or Shia legal systems.
Some clerics of the Shia Islamic school of thought, the Ja’fari school of Islamic jurisprudence, interpret this as allowing marriages of nine-year-old girls. Although some Shiite clerics do not agree with this interpretation, some activists fear that the law could effectively legalize child marriages among Shiite Muslim girls. According to the U.S. State Department, Shiite Muslims make up about 55-60% of Iraq’s population.
The UNICEF 2023 report unfortunately indicates that child marriages are widespread in Iraq despite current legal protection, with around 28% of girls marrying before the age of 18. Experts and activists fear that the proposed law further undermines the rights of women and children in the country.
The possibility of legalizing child marriage is quite alarming because we can already see it happening in significant numbers in Iraq – Alshamary wrote in his study.
The proposed law takes power away from the state and gives it to religious institutions – wrote Nida Alahmad. An Edinburgh University lecturer specializing in Middle Eastern politics and international relations is concerned that creating separate legal frameworks for Sunni and Shia Muslims would further divide the country.
Is there a chance that the law will be accepted?
Unfortunately, yes, as the experts mentioned above, the proposed amendment must be discussed and voted on in parliament before being approved. A simple majority in parliament would mean that the amendment is accepted, and the bill could be enacted into law.
There is a country where women don’t even have the right to speak publicly
The Taliban in Afghanistan also adopted moral policing laws further infringing women’s rights on August 22, 2024. Approved by the top leader of the Taliban, Hibatullah Ahundzada, the laws serve the fight against immorality and the promotion of virtue – stated Maulvi Abdul Gafar Faruk, spokesman for the Taliban Ministry of Virtue Promotion and Prevention of Crimes.
The 114-page, 35-article – a legal document of its kind since the extremists took power in the summer of 2021 – seeks to cover various aspects of everyday life, such as banning women from speaking in public and showing their faces, but also addresses issues such as music, public transportation, shaving, and holidays.
The law empowers the Taliban’s Ministry of Virtue Promotion and Prevention of Crimes to supervise compliance with the provisions and impose penalties for misdemeanors, ranging from simple warnings to detention.
According to Article 13, which concerns women, they must always wear clothing that covers their entire bodies in public and cover their faces because this is an “essential requirement to prevent temptation and the temptation of others.”
Non-Muslim men and women must also cover themselves, “to avoid moral corruption.” Women’s voices are considered intimate, so they are not allowed to sing, recite, or read publicly. It is also forbidden to look at a man who is not a relative or spouse.
Article 17 prohibits publishing images of living creatures, creating or viewing such images on a computer or mobile phone, and generally publishing content hostile to Sharia and religion, or humiliating Muslims.
Article 19 prohibits listening to music, transporting women who are traveling alone or not wearing veils, as well as the mingling of women and men who are not related. It also obliges passengers and drivers to pray at specific times.
In July, the UN released a report stating that the Taliban ministry’s regulations and enforcement methods create an atmosphere of intimidation in Afghanistan. The Taliban rejected the findings of the international organization’s report.
Heather Barr, co-director of the Women’s Rights Division at Human Rights Watch, noted that many of these rules were already in place but less formally, and now they formalize them. I think this is a sign reflecting what we have seen in the past three years, which is a continuous and escalating tightening – she added.
Children are also being sold due to poverty
It’s not just these laws that are causing turmoil; in several places, poor families have been known to sell their children in order to afford food. Two years ago, a CNN report revealed that due to the humanitarian crisis engulfing Afghanistan, desperate families say they are forced to “sell” their daughters for survival. In a specific case, a 9-year-old girl was “sold” to a 55-year-old man.
💘Love
💘Love
😡Angry
😡Angry
