Iraq lowers the age of consent for girls to nine years

The ruling coalition says the move is consistent with a strict interpretation of Islamic law and aims to protect young girls from “immoral relationships.”

The second reading of the amendment to Law 188 was passed on September 16th.

It is not the first time that Shiite parties in Iraq have tried to change the personal status law – attempts to change it failed in 2014 and 2017, largely due to backlash from Iraqi women.

But the coalition now has a large parliamentary majority and is close to pushing the amendment over the line, Dr. Renad Mansour, a senior research fellow at Chatham House.

“It’s as close as it’s ever been,” he told the Telegraph. “It has more momentum than ever before, especially because of the Shiite parties,” he said.

“It’s not all Shiite parties, it’s just the individuals who have the power and are really pushing things forward.”

Dr. Renad added that the proposed change was part of a broader political move by Shiite Islamist groups to “consolidate their power” and regain their legitimacy.

“Emphasizing the religious side is a way for them to regain some of the ideological legitimacy that has waned in recent years,” he said The Telegraph.

It is not yet clear exactly when the amendment will be put to Parliament for a vote, but it could come at any moment, he said.

An attack on women, girls… and the social fabric of Iraq

Experts and activists say the change would effectively eliminate key rights for women in the country.

“The change would not only undermine these rights,” said Sarah Sanbar, Iraq researcher at Human Rights Watch. “It would wipe them out.”

Athraa Al-Hassan, international human rights legal advisor and director of Model Iraqi Woman, said The Telegraph She is “afraid” that Iraq’s system of government will be replaced by a new system called “Guardianship of the Jurist” – a Shiite system that places religious rule over the state.

The system is the same as that underlying the regimes in Afghanistan and Iran, where a Guardian Jurist serves as the country's supreme leader.

Iraq already has a high rate of child marriage. According to the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef), around 28 percent of women in Iraq are married by the age of 18.

The reason for this is a loophole in the personal status law that allows religious leaders, rather than the courts, to perform thousands of marriages each year – including those involving girls as young as 15 with their father's permission.

These unregistered marriages are widespread in economically poor, ultra-conservative Shiite communities in Iraq.

However, since marriage is not legally recognized, girls and their children are denied numerous rights.

For example, hospitals may refuse to admit a child to women without a marriage certificate.

According to Human Rights Watch, the change would legitimize these religious marriages, put young girls at increased risk of sexual and physical violence, and deny them access to education and employment.