Iraq is on the verge of a setback in the fight against child marriage as a new proposed law seeks to lower the legal age of consent from 18 to 9, potentially allowing men to marry young girls. As reported by Times of India, the conservative Shia Muslim-dominated parliament is pushing to amend the country’s “personal status law” that would not only lower the marriage age but also strip women of their rights to divorce, child custody, and inheritance.

Women losing all protection

Iraq’s 1959 “personal status law,” praised as one of the Middle East’s most progressive family codes, set a unified legal framework for families across all sects. However, new amendments propose allowing Muslim citizens to choose between the current secular-based law or religious law—depending on their sect—for handling personal matters. Crucially, the power to decide lies solely with men.

Sarah Sanbar, Iraq researcher at Human Rights Watch highlighted the implications:

“It’s explicitly written in the draft that when there’s a dispute between the couple, the sect of the husband takes priority,” … “This is going to remove a lot of protections for women … it will undermine the principle of equality before the law.”

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