Iraq sparks outrage after proposing law to lower legal marriage age for girls to 9

Baghdad: Iraq has sparked outrage by proposing a controversial law that seeks to lower the legal age of marriage for girls to 9 and 15 for boys, as per multiple media reports. The draft bill, passed by the Shia Islamist parties, has been received with widespread criticism from women and children’s rights advocates for its negative implications on inheritance, child custody and divorce.

The bill tabled in the Iraqi Parliament was heavily promoted by a coalition of conservative Shia Islamist parties that form the largest bloc in the Parliament. The first reading took place on Sunday, following a failed attempt on July 24 that was shelved after some parties objected to the proposal, according to Middle East Eye.

The legislation is being seen as a disastrous rollback of women’s and children’s rights in the Iraqi society that is already marked by patriarchal norms. Once a beacon of progressive reforms, Iraq has already seen these rights being washed away after the 2003 US-led invasion. 

Key provisions of the bill

The amendments to Law No. 188, the Personal Status Law of 1959, stipulated that couples must choose between the Sunni or Shia sect for resolving “all matters of personal status”. It would also allow figures from the “offices of the Shiite and Sunni endowments to finalise marriages rather than the courts”. 

It further said the Shia code would be based on ‘Jaafari jurisprudence’, named after the sixth Shiite Imam Ja’afar Al Sadiq, which governs marriage, divorce, inheritance and adoption. It will allow girls as young as nine and boys aged fifteen to be married. The draft requires Shia and Sunni endowments to submit a “code of legal rulings” to Iraq’s parliament six months after ratifying the amendments.

 
Earlier versions of the draft bill included provisions to prohibit Muslim men from marrying non-Muslim women, legalize marital rape, and restrict women from leaving their homes without their husband’s permission. These latest proposed changes to the bill have sparked concerns that it will allow religious authorities to introduce the rules through their establishment of the Personal Status code and erode the rights of women and children.

The landmark 1959 law was passed under Abdul-Karim Qasim, a leftist nationalist who brought in a number of progressive reforms in Iraq. Ra’ad al-Maliki, the independent MP who proposed the latest amendments, has a history of passing contentious bills that have proposed measures like criminalising homosexuality and sex-reassignment surgeries. 

Demonstrations against the bill

Several demonstrations have been held against the highly controversial draft bill, particularly by women’s organisations. Campaigners have argued that the bill could allow sectarianism in family relationships, give more power to clerics in family matters and legitimise child marriage.

“These proposed changes to the Personal Status law would have a profoundly negative impact on the rights and wellbeing of women and children in Iraq,” said Tamara Amir, CEO of the Iraqi Women’s Rights Platform. “They would further entrench gender inequality and put vulnerable individuals at greater risk,” she said.

Inas Jabbar, a board member of the Iraqi Women Network, told Rudaw that the amendments “violates human rights, especially women’s rights and it supports excluding women and girls from receiving inheritance and other rights.” Notably, child marriage is a major issue in Iraq, with 28 per cent of girls married before the age of 18 in Iraq, according to UNICEF. Most of these marriages are legally invalid and conducted by religious leaders.

Iraqi women lawmakers are putting their own coalition together in opposition to the amendment. “The group wants to make it clear to everyone that the rejection is not based on emotions or external motives, but on legal, religious, professional, and social considerations and people who are concerned about protecting the order of the Iraqi family,” said Iraqi MP Noor Nafea al-Julihawi.