Iraq’s proposed law threatens women and girls’ rights
Iraq’s controversial proposal to amend its personal status law, allowing girls as young as 9 to marry, receives widespread criticism from human rights advocates and international organisations.
Iraq’s proposed amendment to its personal status law would lower the legal marriage age for girls to as young as 9 under certain religious interpretations. Similarly, this amendment seeks to lower the legal age for boys from 18 to 15 years.
This significantly weakens protections for women and children in the country.
The legal change would also reduce women’s access to critical rights such as divorce, child custody, and inheritance, which are essential for their autonomy and safety.
The potential impact would be devastating, increasing the vulnerability of women and girls to exploitation and abuse.
Why child marriage puts girls at increased risk
Legalising child marriage in Iraq would heighten the dangers for young girls in communities already facing challenges from conflict and instability.
“Child marriage puts girls at increased risk of not only sexual and physical violence but also vicious cycles of poverty and vulnerability to exploitation. Girls, like all children, should be in school and not locked into a marriage,” says Walk Free’s Policy and Research Analyst Samah Ali.
The severe risks include health complications, mental health issues, and the loss of education and employment opportunities.
Married girls are often forced to leave school, restricting their personal development and financial independence, and perpetuating cycles of poverty.
Iraq’s amendment violates national and international laws
The proposed law not only contradicts Iraq’s own legal framework but also breaches its international obligations.
Iraq has criminalised forced marriage and ratified global treaties like the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
By introducing this amendment, Iraq risks violating these commitments and disregarding its responsibility to protect women and girls from harmful practices.
The amendment also grants religious councils the authority to draft legal codes, bypassing parliamentary or public review.
This change would give more power to religious authorities, weakening the state’s role in protecting citizens’ rights.
Legal reforms that bypass democratic processes are particularly dangerous as they eliminate essential checks on the lawmaking process.
Global call to protect women and girls from child marriage
Women’s rights activists, human rights groups, and over a dozen female Iraqi parliamentarians have expressed strong opposition to the amendment.
“This amendment shows an utter disregard for the fundamental rights and dignity of Iraqi women and girls,” explains Ali.
“In conflict-affected settings like Iraq, women and girls are already among the most vulnerable, and amending the personal status law will further exacerbate these risks.”
This law is part of a broader rollback of gender equality globally, where hard-won progress is being undermined around the world.
A call for resistance to protect future generations
Similar attempts to lower the legal marriage age in Bangladesh and Somalia led to exceptions allowing children under 18 to marry in certain circumstances, such as pregnancy or with a guardian’s consent.
These exceptions normalise child marriage and reinforce harmful gender norms.
The proposed amendment in Iraq directly opposes international efforts to eliminate child marriage, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 5), which aim to promote gender equality by 2030.
Continued international pressure is essential to ensure harmful practices like child marriage are abolished and women’s and girls’ rights are safeguarded.
