Roughly three months after Iraqi lawmakers proposed a bill to slash the country’s legal age of consent from 18 to nine years old, Iraq’s parliament passed an amendment to the country’s personal status law that effectively legalises child marriage, also from the age of nine. Experts interpret both of these highly controversial amendments as attacks on women and girls that erode most of their rights in a country where gender inequality is already severe and pervasive.

The amendments give Islamic courts increased authority over family matters, including marriage, divorce and inheritance, and its proponents, primarily conservative Shiite lawmakers, defended them as a means to align the law with Islamic principles. Reducing Western influence on Iraqi culture was also cited as a reason.

 

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However, Iraq human rights activists such as Intisar al-Mayali have argued that these revisions undermine Iraq’s 1959 Personal Status Law, which unified family law and established safeguards for women.

The amendments violate their right to life as children and will disrupt protection mechanisms for divorce, custody and inheritance.

“Not only does child marriage deprive girls of their education, but married girls are more vulnerable to sexual and physical abuse, and health risks related to early pregnancy. It is alarming that these amendments to the Personal Status Law are being pushed so vehemently when completely different urgent legal reforms are needed to protect Iraqi women and girls’ rights,” Amnesty International commented concerning these concerning developments in Iraq.

Next to the revisions for the legal age of marriage, the parliament also passed a general amnesty law and a restitution law to address Kurdish territorial claims.

After the session, several legislators complained about the voting process, under which all three controversial laws—each supported by different blocs—were voted on together.

According to CNN, the session ended in chaos and accusations of procedural violations.

The amendment is the latest move by the governing coalition to curb women’s rights. In August 2023, the term “gender” was banned in Iraq in a move that erased discourse about gender-based violence, or broader structural inequality due to one’s gender.

And in April 2024, the county also made same-sex relationships punishable with up to 15 years in prison, after failing to impose the death penalty for them.

Iraq ranked 123 out of 188 countries on the UN Gender Inequality Index in 2015, giving it the lowest ranking in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region compared to Saudi Arabia which was listed at 50, Lebanon ranked 83, and Iran which ranked 118.

These most recent developments show that the situation is set to get more dire.