The bill includes provisions that would legalise marital rape and child marriage and ban Muslims from marrying non-Muslims.
Human rights activists are warning that a new Iraqi law could legalise marriage for children as young as nine and set women's rights back 50 years.
They are calling on Iraqi ministers to withdraw a draft of the Jafaari Personal Status Law which would allow Muslim clerics to have control over marriage contracts.
The legislation is based on the Shia principles of the Jaafari school of jurisprudence, which was founded by the sixth Shia Imam, Jaafar al-Sadiq.
The 2014 version of the bill, which was approved by Iraq's Council of Ministers, includes provisions that would legalise marital rape, ban Muslims from marrying non-Muslims and allow nine-year-old children to marry.
On 1 November, Iraq's Council of Representatives voted in principle to approve the amendment and the bill was signed by 40 parliamentarians. Iraq's elections will be held in May next year.
The law, which would cover the 36 million Shia citizens living in Iraq, would have a "catastrophic" impact on women's rights, according to Suad Abu-Dayyeh, Middle East consultant for the advocacy group Equality Now.
"We are outraged," she told The Guardian. "We will be supporting women in Iraq by issuing alerts about the bill. We are also writing letters to the speaker of [parliament] and the president."
Activists from civil society organisations gathered in the Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah on Sunday (12 November) to present a petition against the bill.
"This new bill to amend the Personal Status Law will authorize religious men to enforce illegal marriages and force girls under 18 to live with their in-laws. This is a setback to the achievements Iraqi women made and struggled for half a century ago," the petition read.
If the law is approved by the Iraqi parliament, it "would be a disastrous and discriminatory step backward for Iraq's women and girls," according to Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch (HRW).
"This personal status law would only entrench Iraq's divisions while the government claims to support equal rights for all," he said. "It flies in the faces of the Iraqi government's legal commitments to protect women's and girls' rights."
The United Nations in Iraq has also condemned the bill. "I call upon the Council of Representatives to seize this opportunity...to conduct a wider consultation on the draft amendments in a participatory manner to recommit to and ensure the full respect, protection and fulfillment of women and girls' rights in Iraq in relation to matrimonial and other matters," said Jan Kubis, the special representative to Iraq of the UN Secretary-General.
Proposed Law Would Allow 9-Year-Old Iraqi Girls to Wed
Little girls, as young as nine years of age, may soon find themselves married in Iraq. Little girls, as young as nine years of age, may soon find themselves getting married in Iraq. New legislation is being introduced in the country which will greatly restrict religious beliefs and human rights. Local authorities suspect the proposed marital law is going to pass through the Iraqi parliament without problems in the near future. It's called the Jaafari Personal Status Law, and there is a lot to it. The legislation, which pertains to the Shiite Muslim population, would ban Muslim men from wedding non-Muslim women. Additionally, females will not be able to leave the house without their spouse's consent. They will also be forced to hand over custody of all children over the age of two to the husband in the event of divorce proceedings. Under the decree, marital rape would not be considered illegal. Boys will be able to marry at 15 and girls could wed at 9. Females younger than 9 can marry, so long as parental consent is given. The law proposal is being met with harsh criticism. Human Rights Watch spokesperson, Joe Stork commented 'Passage of the Jaafari law would be a disastrous and discriminatory step backward for Iraq's women and girls. This personal status law would only entrench Iraq's divisions while the government claims to support equal rights for all.'
Nine-year-old girls in Iraq could be forced to marry under new Muslim laws
The bill includes provisions that would legalise marital rape and child marriage and ban Muslims from marrying non-Muslims.
By Isabelle Gerretsen
International Business Times (14.11.2017) – http://bit.ly/2z1Dy3X – Human rights activists are warning that a new Iraqi law could legalise marriage for children as young as nine and set women’s rights back 50 years.
They are calling on Iraqi ministers to withdraw a draft of the Jafaari Personal Status Law which would allow Muslim clerics to have control over marriage contracts.
The legislation is based on the Shia principles of the Jaafari school of jurisprudence, which was founded by the sixth Shia Imam, Jaafar al-Sadiq.
The 2014 version of the bill, which was approved by Iraq’s Council of Ministers, includes provisions that would legalise marital rape, ban Muslims from marrying non-Muslims and allow nine-year-old children to marry.
On 1 November, Iraq’s Council of Representatives voted in principle to approve the amendment and the bill was signed by 40 parliamentarians. Iraq’s elections will be held in May next year.
The law, which would cover the 36 million Shia citizens living in Iraq, would have a “catastrophic” impact on women’s rights, according to Suad Abu-Dayyeh, Middle East consultant for the advocacy group Equality Now.
“We are outraged,” she told The Guardian. “We will be supporting women in Iraq by issuing alerts about the bill. We are also writing letters to the speaker of [parliament] and the president.”
Activists from civil society organisations gathered in the Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah on Sunday (12 November) to present a petition against the bill.
“This new bill to amend the Personal Status Law will authorize religious men to enforce illegal marriages and force girls under 18 to live with their in-laws. This is a setback to the achievements Iraqi women made and struggled for half a century ago,” the petition read.
If the law is approved by the Iraqi parliament, it “would be a disastrous and discriminatory step backward for Iraq’s women and girls,” according to Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch (HRW).
“This personal status law would only entrench Iraq’s divisions while the government claims to support equal rights for all,” he said. “It flies in the faces of the Iraqi government’s legal commitments to protect women’s and girls’ rights.”
The United Nations in Iraq has also condemned the bill. “I call upon the Council of Representatives to seize this opportunity…to conduct a wider consultation on the draft amendments in a participatory manner to recommit to and ensure the full respect, protection and fulfillment of women and girls’ rights in Iraq in relation to matrimonial and other matters,” said Jan Kubis, the special representative to Iraq of the UN Secretary-General.
Ref:http://hrwf.eu/nine-year-old-girls-in-iraq-could-be-forced-to-marry-under-new-muslim-laws/
Little is known about child marriage in Iraq. According to UNICEF, approximately 1 in 5 girls are married before the age of 18.
DRIVERS
Poverty, conflict and strict religious and social traditions are drivers of child marriage in Iraq. Shari’a law, which dominates the realm of family law, provides limited protection for girls and women.
The increased financial hardship in Iraq has meant that the number of child brides has increased. According to the Iraqi government, in 1997, 15% of marriages involved women under 18. This number jumped to more than 20% in 2012, with almost 5% married by the age of 15.
LEGAL AGE OF MARRIAGE
The legal age of marriage is 18 for both girls and boys, but a girl can marry at the age of 15 with parental consent.
INITIATIVES TO END CHILD MARRIAGE
Due to the political instability, very little is known about civil society efforts to end child marriage at the community level, although there are some active organisations based in Iraqi-Kurdish controlled cities.
UNICEF continues to work in refugee camps on the issue of child marriage.
MEMBERS IN IRAQ
SOURCES
- UNICEF, State of the World’s Children, 2016
- Gordon Brown, Child marriage could become law in Iraq this week, but it’s a global scourge, 29 April 2014
* Child marriage prevalence is the percentage of women 20-24 years old who were married or in union before they were 18 years old.
* According to UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children 2016
Who likes child marriage? Nobody. Well, nobody you know, anyway. This campaign from Plan UK
gives everybody the chance to show how they feel about it. It’s a smart
take on the traditional ‘charity wristband’ that starts with instinct
and emotion not facts and stats.
Plan UK ‘give child marriage the finger’.
Do I like it? Well, I’m wearing one.
NB: the campaign execution was seen as too controversial for some media owners, including the London Underground. What do you think?
Child marriage around the world:
Photo credit: Unchained at Last | Susan Landmann
Internationally there is growing recognition that child, early
and forced marriage is a human rights violation and a severe impediment
to social and economic development. As a leading donor for international
development, the U.S. has a role to play in the global movement to end
child, early and forced marriage.
In the last few years, the U.S. government’s commitments to ending the practice have markedly increased, through development as well as diplomatic work [1].
Developed by the State Department, in coordination with USAID, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and the Peace Corps, this whole-of-government strategy aims to coordinate the work and engagement of U.S. agencies to respond to the needs of adolescent girls in a holistic way.
This strategy meets the requirement of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA) that the U.S. Secretary of State must “establish and implement a multi-year, multi-sectoral strategy to end child marriage.”
This work has helped to spur legislative action in multiple states to address legal loopholes that allow for the marriage of minors through parental or judicial consent. Bills to this effect were introduced in Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Virginia.
In March 2017, New Hampshire rejected a bill to increase the age of marriage to 18 on the grounds that it would hurt pregnant teenagers and young military members. [4]
In July 2016, Virginia adopted a bill that increased the minimum age of marriage to 18. However, legislators added an exception for emancipated minors as young as 16. [5]
The coalition is composed of over 50 organisations and is co-chaired by CARE USA, the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) and the International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC).
The coalition was instrumental in the inclusion of child marriage in the 2013 Reauthorization of VAWA and has been advocating for the “whole of government approach” that is reflected in the Global Strategy to Empower Adolescent Girls.
Girls Not Brides USA developed a policy brief offering guidance to members of the U.S. government on development of a whole-of-government approach to ending child, early and forced marriage.
Girls Not Brides USA has also developed a technical brief that highlights potential strategies to delay the age of marriage and meet the needs of married children.
In the last few years, the U.S. government’s commitments to ending the practice have markedly increased, through development as well as diplomatic work [1].
The U.S. Adolescent Girls Strategy
In March 2016, the U.S. State Department adopted the Global Strategy To Empower Adolescent Girls, which includes specific provisions on ending child, early and forced marriage and addressing the needs of married girls globally. [2]Developed by the State Department, in coordination with USAID, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and the Peace Corps, this whole-of-government strategy aims to coordinate the work and engagement of U.S. agencies to respond to the needs of adolescent girls in a holistic way.
This strategy meets the requirement of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013 (VAWA) that the U.S. Secretary of State must “establish and implement a multi-year, multi-sectoral strategy to end child marriage.”
Other initiatives
The U.S. Government is also addressing child marriage through:- Let Girls Learn, a whole-of-government initiative to ensure girls are in school and address barriers to education, such as child, early and forced marriage,
- Developmental assistance programmes at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) which addresses child, early and forced marriage as part of its programming to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Child marriage in the U.S.
Child, early and forced marriage is an emerging problem in the U.S. In February 2017, new data by Girls Not Brides member Unchained at Last, revealed that over 248,000 children had been married in the United States between 2000 and 2010, mostly to adult men [3].This work has helped to spur legislative action in multiple states to address legal loopholes that allow for the marriage of minors through parental or judicial consent. Bills to this effect were introduced in Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Virginia.
In March 2017, New Hampshire rejected a bill to increase the age of marriage to 18 on the grounds that it would hurt pregnant teenagers and young military members. [4]
In July 2016, Virginia adopted a bill that increased the minimum age of marriage to 18. However, legislators added an exception for emancipated minors as young as 16. [5]
Girls Not Brides USA work
Girls Not Brides USA, the US national partnership to end child marriage, is an advocacy coalition that has been working for nearly a decade to elevate and prioritise the U.S. Government’s engagement on this issue globally.The coalition is composed of over 50 organisations and is co-chaired by CARE USA, the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) and the International Women’s Health Coalition (IWHC).
The coalition was instrumental in the inclusion of child marriage in the 2013 Reauthorization of VAWA and has been advocating for the “whole of government approach” that is reflected in the Global Strategy to Empower Adolescent Girls.
Girls Not Brides USA developed a policy brief offering guidance to members of the U.S. government on development of a whole-of-government approach to ending child, early and forced marriage.
Girls Not Brides USA has also developed a technical brief that highlights potential strategies to delay the age of marriage and meet the needs of married children.
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