Coalition 188, a newly-formed group consisting of several NGOs, activists, and influential and political figures, have called for protests in the provinces of Baghdad, Basra, Dhi Qar, Babil, Kirkuk, Diwaniyah, and Najaf against the proposed amendment. The group’s name refers to the Personal Status Law, also known officially as Law No. 188 of the Year 1959.
The Iraqi parliament conducted the first reading for the bill on Sunday, but has yet to vote on the amendment. If passed, the amendment would allow Iraqis to choose either the Shiite or Sunni sect’s rules at the time of marriage to govern all personal status-related matters in their marriage.
The proposed bill specifies following the provisions of the Jaafari school of jurisprudence for the Shiite sect, which permits marriage for girls as young as nine and boys at fifteen.
Inas Jabbar, a board member of the Iraqi Women Network, told Rudaw’s Hemin Baban Rahim that the amendment “violates human rights, especially women’s rights and it supports excluding women and girls from receiving inheritance and other rights. Not to mention that the amendment also allows girls to be married off before the age of ten.”
Jabbar called on the parliament to reject the proposal, saying it will create many problems for the law which has been in effect for over six decades.
The current provisions of the Personal Status Law require couples to be at least 18 years old to marry, or 15 if the judge permits, subject to the legal guardian’s consent - typically a male relative.
Many marriages in Iraq are unregistered, conducted by religious leaders and not legally valid. The proposed amendments call for legitimizing marriages authorized by religious leaders.
The bill was introduced by independent MP Raed al-Maliki, who was also responsible for the controversial amendments to the country’s anti-prostitution law that criminalized any practice of homosexuality and sex-reassignment surgeries earlier this year.
