Iraq is set to amend a marriage law that will allow men to marry girls as young as nine years of age. The country will lower the age of consent from 18 to 9 years.According to a report, the amendment has also been put forward to deprive them of the right to divorce, inheritance, and child custody inciting protest across the country with women’s rights activists saying that it would ‘legalise child rape’.Since the 1950s, Iraq has prohibited marriage under the age of 18. However, a survey by UNICEF found that 28% of girls in Iraq had married before turning 18.To decide on family affairs, the bill would let the citizens choose either civil judiciary or religious authorities.Raya Faiq, who is the coordinator for a coalition of groups which are opposing the law change that includes some Iraqi MPs, told the Guardian, “This is a catastrophe for women.”“My husband and my family oppose child marriage. But imagine if my daughter gets married and my daughter’s husband wants to marry off my granddaughter as a child. The new law would allow him to do so. I would not be allowed to object. This law legalises child rape,” she added.Alia Nassif, an Iraqi MP told The Guardian, “Unfortunately, male MPs who support this law speak in a masculine way, asking what’s wrong with marrying a minor? Their thinking is narrow-minded. They don’t take into consideration that they are the legislators that determine people’s fate … but rather follow their masculine thinking to authorise all this.”Protesters expressed fears that their children would face an even harsher future than their own if the law changes were adopted. “I have one daughter, I don’t want her to be forced like me to marry as a child,” said Azhar Jassim, who had to leave school to marry at age 16.Meanwhile, opponents of the law and human rights groups have condemned the bill as an effort to disable women’s rights in the country especially following the protest by women against the government. They argue that the bill will increase the risk of sexual and physical violence towards young girls. It could also make it easier to pull young girls out of school and deprive them of education.
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