Media reports Iraqi MPs allowing marriage for nine-year-olds
Date
1/23/2025 7:36:24 AM
(MENAFN) Iraq's parliament passed three controversial laws on Tuesday, including amendments to the Personal Status Law that could allow girls to marry before the age of 15. This move has sparked concerns that it could pave the way for child marriage and infringe on the rights of women and girls.
The changes to the law will enable clerics to approve relationships based on their interpretations of Islamic law. Some Shiite authorities in Iraq allow marriage for girls as young as nine, a practice that the amendments could potentially endorse. While the current law sets the legal marriage age at 18, it permits marriages at 15 with parental and judicial consent.
The proposed changes, backed by the Shiite-majority blocs in parliament, have divided opinion. Supporters argue the amendments reflect Islamic values and resist Western cultural influences, while opponents, including human rights groups, warn that they undermine the protections for women set out in Iraq’s 1959 Personal Status Law.
In addition to the marriage law, parliament also passed a general amnesty law, seen as beneficial to Sunni detainees, and a land restitution law addressing Kurdish claims. Critics of the amnesty law argue that it could pardon individuals involved in corruption. The session ended in chaos, with accusations of procedural irregularities, as some MPs questioned the legality of the voting process.
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