An amendment proposes to lower sexual consent for children from 18 to 9 years old in Iraq. Parliament is preparing to amend a 65-year-old law aimed at protecting the country’s girls.
A frightening setback. In Iraq, Parliament is considering passing a retrograde amendment that would lower the legal age of consent for little girls to 9, reports The Economic Time.
Discussed for several months, this project has never been so close to being adopted, despite the law of 1959 – known as Law 188 – which was intended to protect children from transgressions of their international rights .
“This law legalizes child rape”
Civilians and human rights activists are outraged. The conservative Shiite coalition’s plan would expose millions of children to abuse. This amendment would also be part of a broader political strategy, which aims to strengthen religious authority in the country.
Already in practice according to the UN, 28% of girls marry before the age of 18, despite the law. For 22% of these minors, the age is less than 14 years old. Near the Guardianopposition coordinator Raya Faiq deplores “a catastrophe”: “This law legalizes the rape of children.”
Previous attempts to pass this amendment – in 2014 and 2017 – had failed. But currently, it is Shiite religious groups that dominate the political system, which is why Iraqis are worried.
The male MPs who support this law speak in a masculine way and ask what is wrong with marrying a minor.
“Unfortunately, the male MPs who support this law speak in a masculine way and ask what is wrong with marrying a minor. Their reasoning is narrow-minded. They do not take into consideration the fact that they are the legislators who determine the fate of people…but instead follow their male reasoning to allow all of this,” analyzes Iraqi MP Alia Nassif, with our colleagues across the Channel.
A panel of retrograde measures
Other measures would be added to the consent amendment. Such as the ban on divorce for women, to keep their children after a marriage breakdown or even to have the right to an inheritance.
An anthology of measures which transgress many articles of the international declaration of human rights, and which reflect a strict interpretation of Islamic law, diverted in favor of men only. However, Iraq is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Elsewhere in the world, the age of sexual consent is rarely below 14. Like the United Kingdom (16 years), Germany (14 years), France (15 years) and even Japan (16 years).
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