Iraq To Reduce Marriageable Age to 9 Years For Girls – Its Possible Perils Will Destroy Lives

Women’s freewill and individual agency haven’t completely been their personal property. Irrespective of what culture, class, and country the belong to, it’s something they’ve to fight for despite it being their birthright. Iraq, reportedly, might put a challenge to its women with a controversial piece of legislation. As per reports, Iraq’s Parliament is planning to change the country’s ‘personal status law’ by way of an amendment. Its consequences will strip women of an array of basic rights and freedoms.

The proposed changes aim at reducing women’s legal age of consent from 18 to nine years – a shift that will have a devastating impact on their lives. It will allow older men to wed young girls, turning them into victims of physical and sexual abuse. It risks stunting their normal physical and mental development, jeopardising their health and survival. It can also take away the chance from those girls to earn an education and pursue a profession for an independent life.

The draconian move is being headed by a coalition of Shia Muslim parties to reportedly safeguard young girls from ‘immoral relationships’. According to them, this legal change will bring the country’s laws in line with a strict interpretation of Islamic law. In the same vein, they are also aiming at repealing women’s rights to divorce, inheritance, and child custody.

Also known as Law 188, the ‘personal status law’ was introduced back in 1959, and touted as one of the most progressive in West Asia. Its strength laid in the fact that it gave an overarching set of rules regulating the concerns of Iraqi families, irrespective of religious beliefs and affiliations. With new proposed changes, many core aspects of a woman’s life are at the risk of being severely limited, or entirely denied of individual choice.

According to UNICEF, the United Nations children’s agency, 28% of girls in Iraq are married before they turn 18. This happens by way of exploiting a legal loophole where religious leaders are able to officiate such marriages, instead of the courts. Hence, underage girls are wedded off with older men based just on the father’s permission. These latest developments have sparked protests in the country, and invited due condemnation from across the globe. If the amendment manage to get passed, it will have a dangerous, life-altering impact on Iraqi women’s future, and their very survival.