Nine-year-old marriages under a draft law in Iraq would ‘legalise child rape’, say activists

A proposed law in Iraq that could allow girls as young as nine to marry has sparked widespread protests throughout the country.

Woman’s rights activists have condemned the draft legislation, claiming it would effectively “legalise child rape”.

Unlike Saudi Arabia, Iraq does not have a male guardianship system that mandates women to seek approval from a husband, father or male guardian for critical life decisions like marriage.

However, a new proposal, which recently passed its initial reading in the Iraqi parliament, could grant religious authorities the power to make decisions regarding family matters, including marriage, divorce and child custody.

“This is a disaster for women,” said Raya Faiq, the co-ordinator for a coalition opposing the proposed law. The coalition includes several Iraqi parliament members.

She expressed concerns about the potential consequences of the law, explaining that while her family opposed child marriage, the new legislation could enable situations where her granddaughter might be forced into marriage as a child, with no legal grounds to object.

“"This law legitimises child rape,” she warned.

Throughout the week, the coalition organised protests in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities. During the demonstrations, supporters of the draft law clashed with opponents, accusing them of “moral corruption” and “promoting Western agendas”.

While Iraq has banned marriage for individuals under 18 since the 1950s, a Unicef survey revealed that 28% of girls in Iraq were married before turning 18.

Since 2021, the Coordination Framework, a political coalition of Iran-aligned factions, has dominated Iraq’s political system. They have introduced several laws rooted in sharia principles, including one that enshrines religious holidays and another that criminalises LGBTQ+ individuals in Iraq.

Nadia Mahmood, the co-founder of the Iraq-based Aman Women’s Alliance, said that after the mass youth protests in Iraq in 2019, the political groups perceived the growing influence of women in society as a threat to their power. As a result, they had intensified efforts to suppress feminist, gender and civil society movements.

A group of 25 female members of parliament has been working to prevent the draft law from advancing to a second vote but faces significant resistance.

Alia Nassif, an Iraqi MP, criticised the male supporters of the law, accusing them of narrow-mindedness and failing to consider the broader implications of their legislative decisions.

Protesters expressed concern that their children might endure even greater hardships if the law was enacted.

Azhar Jassim, who was forced to leave school at 16 to marry, shared her fears for her daughter’s future, saying: “I have one daughter, and I don’t want her to be forced, like me, to marry as a child.”