Iraq May Soon Allow 9-Year-Old Girls To Get Married: All You Need To Know About New Law 'Exploiting Poverty'
Date
12/16/2024 8:15:00 PM
(MENAFN- Live Mint) Girls as young as nine-years-old may soon be allowed to marry under Iraqi law. Officials in the country are currently mulling an amendment to the Personal Status Law that can significantly increase the risk of rape and other violations. The legal changes will also give religious authorities the power to decide on family affairs including marriage, divorce and the care of children.
According to a survivor of child marriage interviewed by NBC News, the amendments will essentially help parents“sell” their children to the highest bidders. The amendment - which continues to move forward in spite of widespread protests and criticism - will also authenticate unregistered marriages that have been conducted by religious leaders.
“Changing the law will give parents the right to sell their young daughters. I don't want to call it marriage, because when a girl gets married at the age of 9 or 10, it means her family has sold her. It also allows men to exploit the poverty that many Iraqi families are experiencing,” Batta told NBC News during a telephonic interaction last month.
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She was married to a man 36 years her senior at the age of 11 - being raped on their wedding night and regularly beaten. She was sent back to her family some three years into the marriage - becoming a“like a servant” in her own house as everyone in the family treated her as a pariah.
According to an UNICEF report from April 2023, around 28% of girls in the country are presently married before the legal age of 18. Under Iraqi law girls as young as 15 can presently marry with the consent of judges and their parents. An article published by the Human Rights Watch in mid-September also highlights a series of 'attacks' against gender equality issues in Iraq - from criminalizing homosexuality, banning use of the word "gender" and stalling passage of a draft domestic violence law.
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