by Iraq is about to lower the legal age of consent from 18 to nine, allowing men to marry young children.
The proposed legal change also removes women’s rights to divorce, child custody and inheritance.
Iraq’s parliament, which is led by a coalition of conservative Shia Muslim parties, is preparing to vote through an amendment that would overturn the country’s “personal status law.”
The legislation, also known as Law 188, was heralded as one of the most progressive in the Middle East when it was introduced in 1959 and provides a comprehensive set of rules governing the affairs of families in Iraq, regardless of their religious sect.
As well as lowering the legal age of marriage, the amendment would remove women’s rights to divorce, child custody and inheritance.
The ruling coalition says the move is in line with a strict interpretation of Islamic law and is intended to protect young girls from “immoral relationships”.
The second reading of the amendment to Law 188 was passed on 16 September.
This is not the first time Shia parties in Iraq have tried to amend the personal status law – attempts to change it in 2014 and 2017 failed, mainly due to backlash from Iraqi women.
But the coalition now has a large parliamentary majority and is poised to push through the amendment, said Dr Renad Mansour, senior research fellow at Chatham House.
“It’s the closest he’s ever been,” he told the Telegraph. “It has more momentum than ever, mainly because of the Shia parties,” he said.
“It’s not all Shia parties, it’s just the specific ones that are in power and are really pushing.”
Dr Renad added that the proposed amendment was part of a wider political movement by Shia Islamist groups to “consolidate their power” and regain legitimacy.
“Emphasizing the religious side is a way for them to try to regain some of the ideological legitimacy that has been declining over the last few years,” he said. The Telegraph.
It is not yet clear when exactly the amendment will go before parliament for a vote, but it could come at any time, he said.
An attack on women, girls… and the social fabric of Iraq
Experts and activists say the amendment would effectively destroy the most important rights women have in the country.
“The amendment would not only take away these rights,” said Sarah Sanbar, Iraq researcher at Human Rights Watch. “He would destroy them.”
Athraa Al-Hassan, an international human rights legal consultant and director of Model Iraqi Woman, told The Telegraph she is “afraid” that Iraq’s system of governance will be replaced by a new system called Guardianship of the Magistrate – a Shia system that places religious rule over the state.
The system is the same one that underpins the regimes in Afghanistan and Iran, where a Guardian Jury acts as the country’s supreme leader.
Iraq already has high rates of child marriage. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), about 28 percent of women in Iraq are married under 18.
This is because of a loophole in the personal status law that allows religious leaders, instead of the courts, to officiate thousands of marriages every year – including those involving girls as young as 15, with permission from the father.
These unregistered marriages are widespread in Iraq’s economically poor Shia communities.
But because the weddings are not recognized by law, the girls and any children who have a plethora of rights are denied.
For example, hospitals can refuse women admitted for birth without a marriage certificate.
The amendment would legalize these religious marriages, putting young girls at increased risk of sexual and physical violence, as well as denying them access to education and employment, according to human rights watch.
The proposed amendment is the latest move by the ruling coalition to curtail women’s rights.
In April he made same-sex relations punishable by up to 15 years in prison, after failing to impose the death penalty. And last year, he ruled that media outlets replace the term “homosexuality” with “sexual orientation” on all platforms. The term “gender” was also banned.
The Iraqi parliament will formally discuss the latest amendments before they are put to a vote.
The act sparked an outcry on social media, with women’s rights activists accusing the government of trying to “legitimize child rape”.
In August, protests broke out in Baghdad and other cities across the country. The demonstrations were organized by Coalition 188, a group of Iraqi women activists opposed to the personal status amendment law.
“What they are trying to do in parliament is not for the benefit of society, but it is for the benefit of society,” said Ms Al-Hassan, one of the leading voices in the country’s feminist movement.
There are fears that the amendment will add to Iraq’s already existing sectarian divisions.
“We are defending the rights of women and girls [and] protecting Iraqi society from disintegration and the establishment of sectarianism among the social community,” said Ms. Al-Hassan.
Iraq has long been plagued by sectarian conflict, with Shia Iranian influence finally rising when Saddam Hussein’s regime fell in 2003.
Dr Mansour said that amending Law 188 would add additional sections.
“It would bring everything back to the sector,” Dr Mansour said. “But many Iraqis do not want to be defined politically by their sect. They want to be defined by their government and their state.”
The proposed amendments would give Muslim citizens the choice to choose the current secular personal status law, or the religious law – depending on their sect – as the basis for governing their personal affairs.
But, ultimately, this decision rests with the men alone.
“It is expressly written in the draft that when there is a dispute between the couple, priority is given to the husband’s sect,” said Miss Sanbar. “This will remove many protections for women … it will undermine the principle of equality before the law.”
She was also concerned that the amendment would give more privileges and economic independence to Iraqi women belonging to certain sects, while others remain trapped in poverty or abusive marriages.
“[These women] they will have to stay in harmful situations because they are afraid of losing custody of their children,” said Miss Sanbar.
Ms Al-Hassan criticized the amendment as “very dangerous”, adding that its interference in the affairs of the Iraqi judiciary was a “violation of the constitution”.
“Iraq is a civil state that cannot be otherwise. Iraq was the first female minister in the Arab countries and Iraq was the first female judge,” said Ms. Al-Hassan. “We aim to progress, not regress.”
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