Many Iraqi women fear parliament will open the door to child marriages as lawmakers consider giving religious authorities more power over family law.
Shaimaa Saadoun is haunted by her memory of being forced into an abusive marriage to a 39-year-old man just after she turned 13. Her impoverished family near the southern Iraqi city of Basra hoped that the dowry of gold and money would help improve their circumstances. Her husband presented a bloodstained piece of linen to prove her virginity after their wedding night. “I was expected to be a wife and mother while I was still a child myself.
Parliament was meant to hold an initial vote on the law Tuesday but could not reach a quorum and had to postpone it. Iraq’s personal status law passed in 1959 is broadly perceived as a strong foundation largely protecting women and children’s rights. It set the legal marriage age at 18, though it allows girls as young as 15 to marry with parental consent and medical proof that the girl has hit puberty and is menstruating. Marriages outside state courts were forbidden. Still, enforcement is lax.
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