Photo: Iraqi parliament in Baghdad – Flickr
A new proposal for a law change in Iraq harbors the possibility of legalizing child marriages. At stake is the ”Personal Status Law” No. 188 from 1959 that regulates issues surrounding marriage, custody and general family law in Iraq. The proposed law change will require married couples to make an official choice between Shiite or Sunni representation, whose religious laws will then officially administer their personal status, such as marriages. Under certain Shiite jurisprudence, the marriage of 9-year-old girls and 15-year-old boys would be allowed.
Although the country has made a general upward climb toward a more complete democracy and gender equality, recent proposals from the SCF (Shiite Coordination Framework), which form the largest bloc in the Iraqi parliament, appear to stand in the way of this. The adjustment would give local religious leaders the power to recognize official marriage contracts based on their jurisprudence, which would legalize child marriages and thereby undermine women’s rights, and thus basic human rights.
Religious leaders on the threshold of more legal power
Recent outcry from the UN, human rights organizations and women’s and children’s rights activists have focused a spotlight on the ”Personal Status Law” bill. ”Law No 188,” as the law is also called, was established in 1959 by Abdul-Karim Qasim, who led a progressive and nationalist government and sought, among other things, the improvement of women’s rights in Iraq. The law is believed to be one of the most liberal in the Middle East and has for a long time protected the basic human rights of the Iraqi people and a neutral civil jurisprudence in Iraq as well as implemented a more democratic approach. This is mainly brought about by the secular nature of the law that keeps rule of law and religion separate. The ”Personal Status Law” ensures that family law cases are determined according to a civil, independent jurisprudence, unlike religious jurisprudence that is still used officially in many surrounding countries and unofficially in Iraqi rural areas, even now. The change proposed by the Shiite Coordination Framework to give religious leaders official jurisdiction over family matters could reverse all this.
Trend of problematic law changes?
Although there are still parts of the Iraqi population that view issues such as homosexuality and women’s rights conservatively, this was not yet visible in the laws. Unfortunately, this has changed for the former group. Earlier this year, a bill was accepted in Iraq that imposes prison terms of 10 to 15 years for people who have LGBT+ relationships. In addition to this, there were also prior amendments to the ”Personal Status Law” No. 188 proposed regarding women’s rights and gender equality that also pose a troubling development, with banning Muslim men from marrying non-Muslims, legalizing marital rape and requiring women to get permission from their husbands to leave the house.
The past and current legislative changes could be a sign that Iraq is slowly moving further away from the West and their norms and is seeking to focus more on nationalistic, religious ideology. Only the fundamental rights of man, woman and child should just be allowed to go down with this.
Outcry over secular rule of law and children’s rights
Activist groups took to the streets last week to undermine the potential change. The proposed change in the law brings to the table the option for Islamic couples to be represented in terms of ”Personal Status” from religious jurisprudence, according to Shiite or Sunni interpretation. This already raises concerns about the separation of rule of law and religion in the law, but underlying issues, not directly named in the bill, are a bigger part of the concerns. The new amendment would give religious leaders the right to legally recognize marriages under their specific Islamic jurisprudence. And in some cases, this could lead to child marriages. In Jaafari jurisprudence, a specific religious jurisprudence, it is believed that girls as young as 9 years old may marry. Marriages of girls under 18, conducted by religious leaders, have long been prevalent in rural areas of Iraq, but are still illegal and unofficial under current law. According to UNICEF, twenty-eight percent of girls in Iraq are married before the age of 18. And UN research has found that twenty-two percent of unregistered marriages involve girls under 14 years old.
In al-Sulaymaniyah, just next to the parliament building, Coalition “188” defended the Personal Status Law strongly. The organization, focused on safeguarding the crucial law after which they are named, organized protests in several cities in Iraq, conducted awareness campaigns, collected signatures and submitted protest letters to various authorities. Present were women’s rights activists, civil society organizations, Iraqi parliamentarians and lawyers. According to Bahar Munther, a member of the coalition, the bill violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, signed by Iraq. Such a bill will replace civil laws and provisions with religious doctrine and regulations and ultimately endanger the basic human rights and child protection of the Iraqi people. Thanks to recent protests and general controversy among the population, the Iraqi government is having the bill reviewed by the ”Higher Council for Women’s Affairs.”
Protesting brings about actual change!
Despite and perhaps because of these developments, several groups have now taken to the streets to protest the change in the law. Previous public and international outcry and demonstrations have ensured that the death penalty was not opposed to homosexual relations in Iraq and that other law changes have not, or have been reduced. Awareness and additional protests are crucial steps toward an equal world where everyone’s fundamental rights can be guaranteed.
Written by: Isabel Freie