A bill was proposed in Iraq’s parliament to reduce women’s legal age to marry from 18 years to 9 years, effectively legalising child marriage, along with other amendments feared to be ‘sectarian’, in the country’s Personal Status Law of 1959. The move has sparked widespread outrage in and out of the country.
The proposed bill also puts forward laws for a Muslim couple to specifically choose either the Sunni or Shia sect during their marriage. This move is criticised for effectively giving religious clerics more power over family relationships and marriages. The bill comes as a repeated attempt to make amendments to the Personal Status Law of the country, as the previous proposals were frozen after facing a huge political outcry.
Women’s rights organisations, including the Organisation of Women’s Freedom in Iraq (OWFI), have been protesting and conducting demonstrations against the bill, raising slogans such as “No to the marriage of minors.”.
“The proposed changes to the Personal Status Law would have a profoundly negative impact on the rights and well-being of women and children in Iraq,” they said.
The proposed amendments would further entrench gender inequality and put vulnerable individuals at greater risk.
We urge policymakers to reject these proposals and focus on strengthening protections for women and children,” said Tamara Amir, chief of the Iraqi Women’s Rights Platform, in response to the proposed amendments to the country’s Personal Status Law.
