Iraq: New Bill proposes to reduce legal age of marriage for girls to 9

A controversial Bill introduced in Iraq’s Parliament proposes to lower the legal age of marriage for girls to just nine years and has sparked outrage, according to media reports.

The Bill would allow citizens to choose either religious authorities or the civil judiciary to decide on family affairs. Critics fear this will lead to a slashing of rights in matters of inheritance, divorce and child custody, a report by AFP news agency said.

In particular, they are worried it would effectively scrap the minimum age for Muslim girls to marry, which is set in the 1959 Personal Status Law at 18 – charges lawmakers supporting the changes have denied, it added.

According to the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq’s report, early marriage is a challenge facing Iraqi women and girls. Nearly 24.8 per cent of Iraqi marriages involve girls under the age of 18. The Iraqi Personal Status Law sets marriage age at 18 but allows girls above 15 years of age to marry, with permission.

Also, 33.9 per cent of marriages in Iraq take place outside courts, with 22 per cent of them involving girls under the age of 14. Forced marriages are also still reported in various parts of Iraq, in addition to a type of marriage that is called Al Fasliyah, in which women from a specific tribe are given to another as a marriage gift to settle tribal disputes, the UN report said.