Did Iraq lower the age of marriage?
Outrage has sparked around the world as Iraq considers allowing girls aged nine to marry. The Iraq child marriage law was introduced by the Iraq Justice Ministry this week, the bill aims to amend the Personal Status Law, which currently sets the minimum age for marriage at 18. This bill would undermine decades of progress in women’s rights and gender equality.
According to UNICEF, 28 percent of girls in Iraq are married before the age of 18. Religious leaders who perform marriages are not legally obliged to ensure that couples meet the necessary requirements to be married or to ensure they later register their marriage.
According to UNAMI, the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq, 33.9 percent of marriages in Iraq are unregistered, with 22 percent of them involving girls under the age of 14. Unregistered marriage lead to unregistered children who cannot get an ID. This has lasting effects on the next generation with no way to enroll in school. In another study concluded in 2007, 21% of young Iraqi women reported they were married as children, according to Al-Monitor website. These numbers will spike if the Iraq child marriage law is passed.
“Following the mass youth protests which took place in Iraq in 2019, these political players saw that the role of women had begun to strengthen in society,” said Nadia Mahmood, co-founder of the Iraq-based Aman Women’s Alliance. “They felt that feminist, gender and women’s organisations, plus civil society and activist movements, posed a threat to their power and status … [and] began to restrict and suppress them.”
Virginal purity is implied by the young age of child brides which is a religious fetish in Iraq. The Prophet Muhammad married a 9-year-old girl, Aisha, in the hadith, which is a collection of anecdotes traditionalist Muslims consider second only to the Quran in scriptural authority—the true driver behind this Iraq child marriage law are the rantings of a self-professed Prophet aka crazy man.
Put simply, Iraq’s child marriage law will lead to more abuse by a pedophile husband who takes full advantage of immaturity and ignorance, ensuring these young girls will never have chance at an education or legacy of their own. The bill would give citizens the choice between using religious authorities for underage marriages or the courts to rule on civil affairs. This Iraq child marriage law could eliminate the rights and access to inheritances, divorce, and child custody for these young girls forced into marriage.
What is the legal age to get married in Iraq?
Iraq legally banned marriage under the age of 18 in the 1950s to make it look good on the books. A survey by the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, found 28% of girls in Iraq had married before they reached the age of 18 since that law was passed. What will happen to these stats if the Iraq child marriage law is passed?
What is the legal age of consent in Iraq?
Age of sexual consent is 18 but this only applies to sexual intercourse outside marriage—which blows my mind. Marriage minimum age is 18 by law, with few exceptions for children aged above 15 on paper. But this happens all the time in private, something that will come to light if the Iraq child marriage law is passed.
Why does Iran allow child marriage?
Child marriage is driven by religious notions that perpetuate gender inequality and the belief that girls are inferior to boys. In Iran, child marriage is also driven by poverty. Families agree to marry underaged daughters in exchange for money or property. In times of crisis, families view child marriage as a way to cope with extreme economic hardship and to protect girls from increased violence worse than marrying at a young age. During conflicts in Iraq, armed groups systematically abducted girls and used rape, slavery and forced marriages as weapons of war.
Statistic of child marriage inside and outside the courts in Iraq
The rate of child marriage in Iraq has steadily increased over the last 20 years. A 2021 study by the Ministry of Planning and the Central Statistical Organization in Iraq found 5.2 percent of women were married before 15, and 25.5 percent of married women in Iraq were married before they were 18.
Pure Terror: Children forced to marry a pedophile that already raped them. Article 398 of the Iraqi Penal Code allows perpetrators of rape or sexual assault to escape prosecution or have their sentences quashed if they marry their victim. The Iraq child marriage law will only add to these problems.
Victims frequently face intense pressure to marry their rapists out of concern for family reputation, shame from society, and a perception that they will be unable to find a different husband after having been raped—and no longer “pure”.
What is the Islamic ruling on child marriage?
There is no minimum age for marriage specified in the Quran or hadith. There are vague references that a girl should reach the age of psychological maturity and responsibility at some point beyond puberty before entering into any contractual agreements. It all comes down to cultural and religious drivers. In one society, puberty means it’s time to marry; in another, it’s a time to start taking birth control.
Check out this interactive map about child marriages worldwide: https://www.girlsnotbrides.org/learning-resources/child-marriage-atlas/atlas/iraq/
