Iraqi Islamist MPs' proposal would allow child marriage
Iraq's parliament is considering an amendment that opponents say would severely violate the rights of women and children and send the country's legal system back to a "primitive era."
BAGHDAD — Islamist parties in the Iraqi parliament are pushing an amendment to the personal status law that would allow men to marry girls as young as 9. Human rights activists decried the proposal, which would transfer civil matters to the jurisdiction of clerics.
National Iraqi Alliance parliament member Hamed al-Khodari submitted the amendment bill Nov. 2. A more extreme version of the proposal was withdrawn in 2014 because of public pressure, and public anger is even more intense this time. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) voiced its concerns and encouraged "widening the scope of consultations about the amendment … to ensure the respect and protection of women's rights."
