Iraq’s parliament approved in first reading amendments to the Personal Status Law that will allow religious authorities to regulate marriages and lower the marriage age for girls to nine. Reporting Human Rights Watch (HRW) is a human rights organization. The bill still needs to go through two readings.

Human rights activists said the amendment, if passed, would have “catastrophic consequences” for the rights of women and girls in the country.

“The passage of this bill by the Iraqi parliament would be a devastating step backward for Iraqi women and girls and the rights they have fought so hard for… The formalization of child marriage will deprive countless girls of their futures and well-being. “Girls belong in schools and on playgrounds, not in wedding dresses,” said Sarah Sambar, Iraq researcher at Human Rights Watch.

Iraqi human rights groups and activists opposed the amendment. Demonstrations were held in Baghdad and several other Iraqi cities Write The Guardian. Supporters of the law, in turn, accused protesters of being “morally corrupt” and “following a Western agenda.”

According to Human Rights Watch, Iraq’s parliament proposed similar amendments to the personal status law in 2014 and 2017, but failed to pass both times.

Since 2021, the majority of seats in the Iraqi parliament have been held by the Shiite Coordination Forces bloc. They have passed several laws based on Islamic law. The current amendment initiative also belongs to them.

Under the current personal status law, adopted in 1959, the marriage age in Iraq is 18. Under the bill under discussion, married couples can choose to follow the provisions of the personal status law or the rules of Islamic schools of jurisprudence. The amendment is based in particular on the principles of the Jafari school, which allows girls to marry at 9 and boys at 15. clarify national newspaper.

  • According to Human Rights Watch, early life expectancy in Iraq has increased over the past 20 years. Such marriages are performed by religious leaders and are not registered with government authorities under the Personal Status Law.
  • United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) 2023 In the report 28% of Iraqi girls say they will be married before the age of 18. United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq information 22% of unregistered marriages are to girls under 14 years of age.