“Girls belong in school and on the playground, not in a wedding dress.”
Iraq’s Parliament is currently advancing an amendment to the country’s Personal Status Law that would shift governance of marriage from state courts to Iraqi religious authorities, posing dire threats to the human rights of girls and women. The new law would give legal recognition to marriages of girls as young as 9 years old and remove criminal punishments for men who marry young girls—thereby legally authorizing the rape and sexual abuse of girls by adult men. The amendment would also remove protections for women in marriage, divorce and inheritance, which would likely increase already high rates of domestic violence.
“The Iraqi Parliament’s passage of this bill would be a devastating step backward for Iraqi women and girls and the rights they have fought hard to enshrine in law,” said Sarah Sanbar, an Iraq researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Formally legalizing child marriage would rob countless girls of their futures and well-being. Girls belong in school and on the playground, not in a wedding dress.”
Child marriage puts girls at increased risk of sexual and physical violence, adverse physical and mental health consequences, and being denied access to education and employment, reported Human Rights Watch.
Formally legalizing child marriage would rob countless girls of their futures and well-being. Girls belong in school and on the playground, not in a wedding dress.
Sarah Sanbar, Iraq researcher at Human Rights Watch
Child marriage rates have been on the rise in Iraq over the past 20 years due to leniency by Personal Status courts and a high frequency of unregistered marriages. The legal age for marriage in Iraq is 18, but the law allows judges to grant permission for minors as young as 15 to marry upon a finding of a child’s “maturity and physical capacity.” Most child marriage currently occurs outside of the law, conducted by religious leaders.
“It steals your future,” said Warda A., an Iraqi woman who was married at the age of 13.
Under the proposed amendment, marriage would follow Islamic jurisprudence, such as the Ja’afari School of Law, which allows for girls as young as 9 and boys as young as 15 to be married.
“Would politicians let their 9-year-old daughter get married? I’m sure not, but they would allow the oppressed Iraqi population to do so,” said Suhalia Al Assam, an Iraqi women’s rights activist.
The proposed amendment would also eliminate current protections for divorced women, such as a wife’s right to remain in their marital home for up to three years at the expense of her husband and her right to receive spousal maintenance at the current value of her dowry for two years if the husband requests a divorce. By contrast, under the Ja’afari school of law, women who divorce have no right to the marital home or her dowry, and her children would continue living with her for only two years, contingent on her not remarrying.
Ruba Al Hassani, a legal Sociologist at Lancaster University, explained that the law would bring “changes to child custody during legal battles, where a father would be favored regardless of the child’s age or the circumstances surrounding the legal battle, [and deny women] inheritance, especially of real estate, after her husband’s death.” Religious laws often allow sons to inherit significantly more than daughters, and they deny daughters the right to inherit agricultural land.
“The Iraqi community categorically rejects these proposals. It is a degrading step for both Iraqi men and women alike. This is what we have been fighting against for years,” said Al Assam.
The legislator who introduced the amendment, Raad al-Maliki, has previously introduced legislation to criminalize same-sex relations, “promoting homosexuality” and gender-affirming medical care. The Iraqi Parliament approved the legislation in April 2024.
Would politicians let their 9-year-old daughter get married? I’m sure not, but they would allow the oppressed Iraqi population to do so.
Suhalia Al Assam, Iraqi women’s rights activist.
According to Human Rights Watch, the amendment endangers the safety and wellbeing of women and girls and violates their human rights as well as the right to legal equality found in article 14 of the Iraqi constitution. Iraq has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in 1986 and the Convention on Rights of the Child in 1994.
Women’s rights groups are protesting in the streets in Bagdad and in several provinces across Iraq against the amendment. A group of more than 15 female Parliament members from multiple parties have also organized to oppose the amendment’s passage.
The Iraqi Parliament, which completed its first reading of the bill on Aug. 11, will have two more readings of the bill and a debate before deciding whether to approve the law.
“Iraqi parliamentarians should reject efforts to strip women and girls of their legal protections and refuse to undo decades of hard-won rights,” Sanbar said. “Failure to do so means current and future generations of Iraqi women will remain strangled by an oppressive patriarchal legal system.”
Up next:
U.S. democracy is at a dangerous inflection point—from the demise of abortion rights, to a lack of pay equity and parental leave, to skyrocketing maternal mortality, and attacks on trans health. Left unchecked, these crises will lead to wider gaps in political participation and representation. For 50 years, Ms. has been forging feminist journalism—reporting, rebelling and truth-telling from the front-lines, championing the Equal Rights Amendment, and centering the stories of those most impacted. With all that’s at stake for equality, we are redoubling our commitment for the next 50 years. In turn, we need your help, Support Ms. today with a donation—any amount that is meaningful to you. For as little as $5 each month, you’ll receive the print magazine along with our e-newsletters, action alerts, and invitations to Ms. Studios events and podcasts. We are grateful for your loyalty and ferocity.
