Erbil: Shaima Saadoun is haunted by memories of when she was forced into an abusive marriage to a 39-year-old man at the age of 13.
Her poor family, living near the southern Iraqi city of Basra, hoped a dowry of gold and money would improve their circumstances. Her husband presented her with a blood-stained cloth to prove her virginity after their wedding night. “When I was a child myself, I was expected to be a wife and mother. No child or teenager should be forced to live what I have lived and experienced,” said Saadoun, who divorced her husband at the age of 30 and is now 44.
Saadoun’s marriage was illegal, even though a judge – who was a relative of the husband – had signed off on it. Iraqi law sets the minimum age for marriage at 18 in most cases.
But such Child Marriage The number of girls who can be married could soon be restricted by the state. Iraq’s parliament is considering controversial legal changes that would give greater power to religious authorities. family Law Human rights groups and opponents have warned the move could lead to the marriage of girls as young as 9.
The law would allow clerics to decide how young a girl can be married. The pressure for this change is coming mainly from powerful people. Shia Muslims Political factions backed by religious leaders have increasingly campaigned against the West imposing its cultural norms on Muslim-majority Iraq. In April, parliament passed a harsh anti-LGBTQ+ law.
The proposed amendments would allow Iraqis to approach religious courts on family law issues, including marriage, which are currently only under the jurisdiction of civil courts.
That would allow clerics to rule according to their interpretation of sharia, or Islamic law, contrary to national laws. Some clerics interpret sharia to allow girls to marry as young as a teenager — or as young as 9 under the Ja’fari school of Islamic law followed by many Shiite religious authorities in Iraq.
many Iraqi Women People have reacted furiously, protesting outside parliament and campaigning against the changes on social media. “Making a law that takes the country back 1,500 years is a shameful thing … and we will reject it until our last breath,” activist Heba al-Dabouni, one of dozens at a protest in August, told The Associated Press. “The job of the Iraqi parliament is to pass laws that will raise the standards of society.”
Conservative legislators say the changes give people the choice between using civil or religious law, and argue they are protecting families from secular, Western influences. Human Rights Watch Iraq researcher the whole business He said these changes prioritize husbands’ choices. “So, yes, it’s giving a choice, but it’s giving the choice to men first and foremost.”
Not all religious leaders agree. This often bitter debate has spilled over into the Iraqi media – even among clerics. On a recent news show, a Sunni cleric argued against early marriage, calling it harmful to girls and saying there is no problem with the existing laws of Islam.
In a lecture posted on social media, Shia cleric Rashid al-Husseini insisted that Sharia allows a 9-year-old girl to marry. “But in practice, does this really happen? … It may happen in zero percent or 1% of cases,” he said.
The proposed amendments have the support of most Shia legislators in a group called the Coordination Framework, which has a majority in parliament. But controversy continues over the draft. Parliament was scheduled to hold a preliminary vote on the law on Tuesday, but the quorum was not met and it had to be adjourned.
Iraq’s Personal Status Law, passed in 1959, is broadly regarded as a strong foundation protecting the rights of women and children. It set the legal marriage age at 18, though it allows girls as young as 15 to marry with parental consent and medical proof that the girl has reached puberty and is menstruating.
Marriages outside state courts were prohibited. Even then, enforcement is lax. Individual judges sometimes approve underage marriages, whether due to corruption or because the marriage has already been informally solemnized.
MP Raed al-Maliki, who introduced the proposed amendment, said the state would still provide protection and the minimum age for marriage was still under discussion.
Al-Maliki told the AP that the age would be “very close to the current law,” but did not elaborate. Iraqi women are leading the fight against the changes. Al-Maliki and other supporters present the changes as a defense against Western secularism.
He said the Basic Law was influenced by “communists and Baathists,” the latter a reference to the secular pan-Arab nationalist party that ruled the country with an iron fist from 1968 until 1970. Saddam Hussein It was overthrown in a US-led invasion in 2003.
“In the West they take children away from their parents for very simple reasons and accuse them of violence, then they change their culture and raise homosexuals out of them,” al-Maliki said, referring to a law passed in Iraq in April that criminalises same-sex relationships and the promotion of LGBTQ+ rights. “We cannot imitate this or consider it development.”
Criticism of Western culture has gained new strength since the Israel-Hamas war began, with most Iraqis sympathizing with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Many see statements about human rights The United States and other countries have described him as a hypocrite because he has supported Israel’s campaign in Gaza, which has killed thousands of Palestinians.
But Sanbar, of Human Rights Watch, said the most vocal opposition to these changes was coming from Iraqi women. “This shows that this is what Iraqi women want, not foreign organizations that are dictating what Iraq should do,” she said.
This was not the first set of proposed amendments in the past decade. But now, Shia parties are more united behind them. Harith Hassan, a non-resident fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center, says Shia parties previously had different priorities, focused on the many conflicts that have raged in the country over the past two decades.
He said there was now a kind of consensus among them on cultural issues, and that the new amendments would create institutional sectarianism in Iraq and could weaken civil courts.
“When they say it is the right of religious authorities to deal with marriage, inheritance, divorce and the courts cannot challenge it, you create two parallel authorities,” said Hassan. “This will cause confusion in the country.”
Saadoun, who lives in Irbi, a semi-autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq, said she fears for women and girls in Iraq. “The new amendments to the Personal Status Law will destroy the future of many little girls and many generations,” she said.
Her poor family, living near the southern Iraqi city of Basra, hoped a dowry of gold and money would improve their circumstances. Her husband presented her with a blood-stained cloth to prove her virginity after their wedding night. “When I was a child myself, I was expected to be a wife and mother. No child or teenager should be forced to live what I have lived and experienced,” said Saadoun, who divorced her husband at the age of 30 and is now 44.
Saadoun’s marriage was illegal, even though a judge – who was a relative of the husband – had signed off on it. Iraqi law sets the minimum age for marriage at 18 in most cases.
But such Child Marriage The number of girls who can be married could soon be restricted by the state. Iraq’s parliament is considering controversial legal changes that would give greater power to religious authorities. family Law Human rights groups and opponents have warned the move could lead to the marriage of girls as young as 9.
The law would allow clerics to decide how young a girl can be married. The pressure for this change is coming mainly from powerful people. Shia Muslims Political factions backed by religious leaders have increasingly campaigned against the West imposing its cultural norms on Muslim-majority Iraq. In April, parliament passed a harsh anti-LGBTQ+ law.
The proposed amendments would allow Iraqis to approach religious courts on family law issues, including marriage, which are currently only under the jurisdiction of civil courts.
That would allow clerics to rule according to their interpretation of sharia, or Islamic law, contrary to national laws. Some clerics interpret sharia to allow girls to marry as young as a teenager — or as young as 9 under the Ja’fari school of Islamic law followed by many Shiite religious authorities in Iraq.
many Iraqi Women People have reacted furiously, protesting outside parliament and campaigning against the changes on social media. “Making a law that takes the country back 1,500 years is a shameful thing … and we will reject it until our last breath,” activist Heba al-Dabouni, one of dozens at a protest in August, told The Associated Press. “The job of the Iraqi parliament is to pass laws that will raise the standards of society.”
Conservative legislators say the changes give people the choice between using civil or religious law, and argue they are protecting families from secular, Western influences. Human Rights Watch Iraq researcher the whole business He said these changes prioritize husbands’ choices. “So, yes, it’s giving a choice, but it’s giving the choice to men first and foremost.”
Not all religious leaders agree. This often bitter debate has spilled over into the Iraqi media – even among clerics. On a recent news show, a Sunni cleric argued against early marriage, calling it harmful to girls and saying there is no problem with the existing laws of Islam.
In a lecture posted on social media, Shia cleric Rashid al-Husseini insisted that Sharia allows a 9-year-old girl to marry. “But in practice, does this really happen? … It may happen in zero percent or 1% of cases,” he said.
The proposed amendments have the support of most Shia legislators in a group called the Coordination Framework, which has a majority in parliament. But controversy continues over the draft. Parliament was scheduled to hold a preliminary vote on the law on Tuesday, but the quorum was not met and it had to be adjourned.
Iraq’s Personal Status Law, passed in 1959, is broadly regarded as a strong foundation protecting the rights of women and children. It set the legal marriage age at 18, though it allows girls as young as 15 to marry with parental consent and medical proof that the girl has reached puberty and is menstruating.
Marriages outside state courts were prohibited. Even then, enforcement is lax. Individual judges sometimes approve underage marriages, whether due to corruption or because the marriage has already been informally solemnized.
MP Raed al-Maliki, who introduced the proposed amendment, said the state would still provide protection and the minimum age for marriage was still under discussion.
Al-Maliki told the AP that the age would be “very close to the current law,” but did not elaborate. Iraqi women are leading the fight against the changes. Al-Maliki and other supporters present the changes as a defense against Western secularism.
He said the Basic Law was influenced by “communists and Baathists,” the latter a reference to the secular pan-Arab nationalist party that ruled the country with an iron fist from 1968 until 1970. Saddam Hussein It was overthrown in a US-led invasion in 2003.
“In the West they take children away from their parents for very simple reasons and accuse them of violence, then they change their culture and raise homosexuals out of them,” al-Maliki said, referring to a law passed in Iraq in April that criminalises same-sex relationships and the promotion of LGBTQ+ rights. “We cannot imitate this or consider it development.”
Criticism of Western culture has gained new strength since the Israel-Hamas war began, with most Iraqis sympathizing with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Many see statements about human rights The United States and other countries have described him as a hypocrite because he has supported Israel’s campaign in Gaza, which has killed thousands of Palestinians.
But Sanbar, of Human Rights Watch, said the most vocal opposition to these changes was coming from Iraqi women. “This shows that this is what Iraqi women want, not foreign organizations that are dictating what Iraq should do,” she said.
This was not the first set of proposed amendments in the past decade. But now, Shia parties are more united behind them. Harith Hassan, a non-resident fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center, says Shia parties previously had different priorities, focused on the many conflicts that have raged in the country over the past two decades.
He said there was now a kind of consensus among them on cultural issues, and that the new amendments would create institutional sectarianism in Iraq and could weaken civil courts.
“When they say it is the right of religious authorities to deal with marriage, inheritance, divorce and the courts cannot challenge it, you create two parallel authorities,” said Hassan. “This will cause confusion in the country.”
Saadoun, who lives in Irbi, a semi-autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq, said she fears for women and girls in Iraq. “The new amendments to the Personal Status Law will destroy the future of many little girls and many generations,” she said.
