parliament considers bill to lower girls' age of consent to 9

In Iraq, a bill threatens the rights of women and girls. The latter proposes lowering the age of consent for girls to 9 years old instead of 18 years old. A text that could legalize child marriages.

First studied at first reading last August, this bill is coming back to the forefront in Iraq and worrying human rights activists. This text reverses a law called Law 188, which was announced when it was introduced in 1959 as one of the most progressive in the Middle East. It governs Iraqi family affairs, in particular the legal age of marriage at 18, regardless of religious denomination, as The Telegraph recalls. Proposed by extremely conservative Shiite Muslim parties, the bill plans to lower the age of consent for girls to 9 if passed by Parliament. However, the coalition of these parties now has a parliamentary majority, which could get the text approved. During this second reading, the coalition affirmed that this “measure is consistent with a strict interpretation of Islamic law” and that it aims to protect young girls from “immoral relationships”.

A worrying step backwards for women's rights

A bill that worries human rights activists. Last August, during the first reading of the text, researcher Sarah Sanbar told Human Rights Watch: “Adoption of this bill by the Iraqi Parliament would constitute a devastating setback for Iraqi women and girls and for rights that they ardently defended in the law. » Before continuing:

Indeed, Iraq is already plagued by numerous child marriages. These unions constitute approximately 28% of marriages of Iraqi women, who marry their husbands before they turn 18 according to Unicef. Marriages made possible because of a loophole in the law that allows religious leaders to marry off girls, some as young as 15, with the permission of their fathers. This bill, if passed, would only make this situation worse and expose girls and women to increased risk of “sexual and physical violence” according to Human Rights Watch. In addition, this bill is accompanied by another legal upheaval for women, the cancellation of the right to divorce, child custody and inheritance.

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