Among the countries in the Middle East and North Africa, Iraq has the lowest number of working women, only 1 percent. This data of the World Bank also shows that the condition of women there is not very good. They are facing everything from domestic violence to early marriage. But now taking the extreme to the extreme, Iraq is bringing a new bill, which will legalize the marriage of 9 year old girls. Now human rights organizations are making a lot of noise on this. By the way, let us tell you that child marriage is exempted in America also.
How is the law prevailing till now?
According to Middle East Eye, there is talk of changing Rule 188 of the Personal Status Act 1959. The old rule was made by Abdul Karim Qasim government. Qasim was known as a progressive leftist, during whose time many major changes were brought. One of these was marriage of girls only after they turn 18 years of age. It was considered one of the best laws in the entire Middle East in the late fifties.
Not only marriage at a certain age, this rule also said many other things, like men cannot marry for the second time as per their wish. According to the law, if a Muslim man and a non-Muslim woman want to get married, there will be no condition or pre-condition on it. However, the law was not as straightforward as it sounds. To please the population, a rule was also inserted that marriages can take place even at the age of 15, if the family and the judge have permission.
Who is bringing new law?
Shia Islamist parties together prepared a framework, in which there is talk of this change. Let us tell you that at present there is a government in Iraq of Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, who is himself a Shia and who has the support of Shia parties. Shia parties play a big role in the government of this Shia-dominated country and they often take major decisions.
What is shocking in the bill
The proposed bill says that the husband and wife will have to choose between Sunni or Shia religion to settle personal matters. If there is any dispute as to which religion is to be followed in the marriage contract, the agreement will be considered according to the religion of the husband. It said Shia law would be based on Ja’fari law, which deals with matters like marriage, divorce, child adoption and inheritance. Under this, marriage of 9 year old girls and 15 year old boys is legal.
There were earlier versions of this law, which prohibited Muslim men from marrying non-Muslim women and considered rape in marriage as legitimate. Even the wife could not leave the house without the husband’s permission. Now there is more focus on age.
What is the logic behind reducing the age?
Shia parties say that the change in the Personal Status Law is an attempt to harmonize the Constitution. With this, Iraqi families will be able to decide as per their wish when to get their children married.
According to the international NGO Girls Not Brides, even after the legal age of 18, 7 percent of girls get married before they turn 15, while 28 percent of girls are married before they turn 18.
Why is Iraq in this condition?
Iraq continued to struggle with war for a long time. It got relief from war only about two decades ago but stability could not come even after that. Lakhs of refugees are continuously coming to this country from other countries of the Middle East like Syria. According to the data of the year 2023, at present there are more than 2.5 lakh registered Syrian refugees here. Apart from these, there are many refugees from Türkiye, Iran and Yemen also here.
Most refugees are getting married early
These people who came and settled from outside did not have good accommodation and food facilities, nor could they develop mutual trust with the locals. In such a situation, both the parties remain afraid of each other lest they cause any harm to them or their daughters. This is a major reason for child marriage. The pattern seen in most of the refugees is that they are marrying their daughters at an early age.
Consent to child marriage in America too
Although Iraq is a conservative country, child marriage is allowed even in so-called liberal countries. According to Pew Research of 2016, there are about 117 countries where child marriage is legal. America is also in this. Although in most of the states the minimum age for marriage is 18 years, but relaxation is available with the consent of parents, judge or in special circumstances.
Many states have made 16 years the legal age for marriage. Even in some states, marriage can be done before the age of 16, for example if a girl becomes pregnant and wants to get married. Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania recently made child marriage illegal, but the rest of the states are still there.
A study published in 2021 by the American NGO Unchained at Last, which looked at the pattern of the last two decades, claimed that 80 percent of the girl population dies before the age of 18.
In which countries child marriage is highest?
Its graph is at the top in Niger, where more than 75 percent of girls are married before the age of 18. Of these, 30 percent are less than 15 years of age.
After this comes Chad and Malawi, where the minimum age for marriage of girls is 15 years. Most of them get married even before this.
– In South Sudan, girls are married before the age of 18 years.