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Join Telegram ChannelIn Iraq, girls who are years away from becoming teenagers could be forced to become brides if a new Shiite-backed law is passed. The new law would lower consent for girls from 18 to 9 years old.
This includes allowing parents to arrange arranged marriages for their young daughters.
Iraq does not have a male guardianship system that requires a woman to have permission from her husband, father or other male guardian to make crucial life decisions, such as marriage. The law would also allow religious authorities to perform marriages.
The bill, which is in its second stage in parliamentary government, has faced opposition from women members of parliament (MPs) and activist groups, according to the Guardian.
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A young Iraqi girl lights a candle in front of the shrine of Imam al-Mahdi during a ceremony on the 15th of the Islamic month of Shaaban marking his birth, two weeks before the holy month of Ramadan, in Karbala, central Iraq Iraq, February 25, 2024. (MOHAMMED SAWAF/AFP via Getty Images)
“It’s a catastrophe for women,” said Raya Faiq, coordinator of a coalition of groups opposed to the law change, which also includes some Iraqi lawmakers.
“My husband and family oppose child marriage. But imagine if my daughter gets married and my daughter's husband wants to marry off my granddaughter when she is a child. The new law would allow him to do so. I would not be allowed to object. The law legalizes child rape.
The new law would bring back a Taliban-style way of reducing women's rights.
Young Iraqi girls who have reached the age to wear hijabs are dressed for the first time in the head covering worn by many Muslim women during a ceremony at the Basra International Stadium in the city of Basra, in the southern Iraq, February 21, 2024. (HUSSEIN FALEH/AFP via Getty Images)
Iraqi citizens demonstrated in the streets of Baghdad, the country's capital, and in other cities across the country. The demonstrations gave rise to clashes against local law enforcement.
Although marriage before the age of 18 has been national law since the 1950s, a Unicef survey found that 28% of Iraqi girls were married before turning 18.
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Nadia Mahmood, co-founder of the Iraq-based Aman Women's Alliance, said the predominantly male Iraqi MP feels threatened by a movement of youth and women's organizations.
“Following mass youth demonstrations which took place in Iraq in 2019, these political actors found that the role of women had begun to strengthen in society,” said, according to a Guardian report. “They felt that feminist, gender and women’s organizations, as well as civil society and activist movements, posed a threat to their power and status… [and] began to restrict and suppress them.
Young Iraqi girls who have reached the age to wear hijabs are dressed for the first time in the head covering worn by many Muslim women during a ceremony at the Basra International Stadium in the city of Basra, in the southern Iraq, February 21, 2024. (HUSSEIN FALEH/AFP via Getty Images)
Twenty-five female members of the Iraqi government tried to prevent the bill from being put to a second vote, but they say strong opposition from their male parliamentary colleagues made that almost impossible.
“Unfortunately, the male MPs who support this law speak in a masculine way, asking what is wrong with marrying a minor? Their thinking is narrow-minded. They do not take into consideration the fact that “They are the legislators who determine the fate of people… but instead follow their male thinking to allow all this,” said Alia Nassif, an Iraqi MP.
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Protesters fear their children will face an even harsher future than theirs if the law passes.
“I have a daughter, I don’t want her to be forced, like me, to marry when she was a child,” said Azhar Jassim, who had to leave school to get married at 16.