Draft Iraqi law allowing 9-year-olds to marry would ‘legalise child rape’, say activists
Opponents fear proposed bill could allow girls as young as nine to marry, erode women’s rights and give greater powers to clerics
A draft law in Iraq that would allow the marriage of girls as young as nine has provoked protests across the country, with women’s rights activists saying it would “legalise child rape”.
The Shia religious groups that dominate the political system in Iraq have been pushing to erode women’s rights in the country for more than a decade.
However, a new proposal, which passed its first reading in the Iraqi parliament this week, would give religious authorities the power to decide on family affairs, including marriage, divorce and the care of children
“This is a catastrophe for women,” said Raya Faiq, who is the coordinator for a coalition of groups which are opposing the law change. The group includes some Iraqi MPs.
“My husband and my family oppose child marriage. But imagine if my daughter gets married and my daughter’s husband wants to marry off my granddaughter as a child. The new law would allow him to do so. I would not be allowed to object. This law legalises child rape.”
During protests organised by the coalition this week in the capital, Baghdad, and in several other cities in Iraq, supporters of the new law confronted opponents and accused them of “moral decadence” and “following western agendas”.Since 2021, the Iraqi political system has been dominated by the Coordination Framework, a political coalition of Iran-aligned factions. They have passed several sharia-oriented laws, including one to adopt religious holidays and another
criminalising gay and transgender people in Iraq.“Unfortunately, male MPs who support this law speak in a masculine way, asking what’s wrong with marrying a minor? Their thinking is narrow minded. They don’t take into consideration that they are the legislators that determine people’s fate … but rather follow their masculine thinking to authorise all this,” said Alia Nassif, an Iraqi MP.More here-
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/article/2024/aug/09/proposed-iraq... Muhammad married Aisha his favourite wife when she was 6 and poked her when she was 9 muslims don't have a problem with marrying young girls.
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Iraq to allow marriage of 9 year old girls (Read 489 times)
