Iraq to amend marriage laws, allowing men to marry even 9-year-old girls: Report

Rights activists say the amendment would roll back women's rights and increase underage marriages in the country.

Iraq is set to pass legal amendments to the country's marriage law that allows men to marry girls as young as nine. Amendments have also been proposed to deprive women of the right to divorce, child custody and inheritance, reported The Telegraph.

Women attend a demonstration in support of a proposed parliamentary amendment to the Personal Status Law in Baghdad. (File image)(AFP)

The bill would also allow citizens to choose either religious authorities or the civil judiciary to decide on family affairs.

The conservative government led by a coalition of Shia parties aims to pass the proposed amendment in an attempt to protect girls from “immoral relationships”. The second amendment to the law was passed on September 16.

Named “Law 188”, it was regarded as one of the most progressive laws in West Asia when introduced in 1959, the report claimed. It provided an overarching set of rules to govern Iraqi families, irrespective of their religious sect.

The coalition government said the proposed amendment is in line with strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law and aims to “protect” young girls. The government, with parliamentary majority, is expected to push through the legislation despite opposition from Iraqi women groups.

According to UNICEF, high child marriage rates are already prevalent across Iraq. Around 28% of Iraqi girls are married by the age of 18 and the proposed amendments are expected to worsen the state of affairs.

Dr Renad Mansour, a senior research fellow at Chatham House told The Telegraph that the move is the latest attempt by Shia Islamists to consolidate power and regain legitimacy.

“It’s not all Shia parties, it’s just the specific ones that are empowered and are really pushing it,” he was quoted by the website as saying.

“Stressing the religious side is a way for them to try and regain some of the ideological legitimacy that has been waning over the last few years,” Mansour added.

Activists raise alarm

Human rights activists and experts in Iraq expressed fears that the proposed amendments would erase women rights and give primacy to religion.

The report also noted that Iraq would resemble Islamic regimes in Afghanistan and Iran, where a theologist serves as the country's supreme leader.

A loophole in the country's law allows religious leaders to officiate child marriages, provided they are carried out with the consent of the girl's father. This loophole is believed to have led to a large number of child marriages. Activists fear that the new law would allow such marriages to be legalised.

Human Rights Watch said the amendment would put young girls at increased risk of sexual and physical violence, and also deny access to education and employment.