Activists demonstrate against female child marriages in Tahrir Square in central Baghdad on July 28, 2024, amid parliamentary discussion over a proposed amendment to the Iraqi Personal Status Law. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)
Iraq’s Personal Status Law was passed in 1959. In chapter 1, article 3.1, it defines marriage as “a contract between a man and a woman who is lawfully permissible to him, the purpose of which is to found a bond to procreate and live together”.
Later, in chapter 3, article 7.1, the law expands on this by stating that, for a marriage to be legal, both parties must be of sound mind and over the age of 18. (Article 8 does allow a judge to lower the required age to 15 should they deem it “absolutely necessary”.)
This seems too long to wait for some lawmakers in the Iraqi parliament who have proposed amendments to the law that would allow old men to marry, and legally have sex with, girls as young as nine.
The amendments to the law were first proposed in August this year and passed a second round of voting in September.
Now Iraq’s women wait to find out if their bodily autonomy will be stripped from them.
There are several problems associated with the practice of early, oftentimes forced, marriage. These problems, aside from the psychological harm to a girl too young to comprehend what is being done to her, have far reaching consequences for both these young girls and society as a whole.
The study Early Marriage in Africa — Trends, Harmful Effects and Interventions by Judith-Ann Walker, which was published in the African Journal of Reproductive Health June 2012 special edition, found a strong correlation between the age of a bride and early pregnancy, in many instances resulting in a higher than normal loss of children to neonatal and early childhood diseases.
The early age at which these young women are being forced to give birth also results in a far higher mortality rate for them during childbirth, according to the International Centre for Research on Women, which found that women giving birth aged 15 to 19 are five times more likely to die than women in their 20s.
Aside from the greater risk of death in childbirth, girls who are married young are less likely to complete their education.
Inequalities in Early Marriage, Childbearing and Sexual Debut among Adolescents in Sub-Saharan Africa by Dessalegn Y Melesse, Reka Maulide Cane, Aveneni Mangombe, et al, published in the journal Reproductive Health in 2021, found that 43% of women with primary (or less) education were married by the age of 18. This is three times higher than women with higher education at only 15%.
Research shows that childhood marriage damages the mental and physical well-being of those forced into them. It restricts their access to education, hinders community development and contributes to societal underdevelopment through an increased disease burden and low productivity. Simply put, childhood marriages damage society and cause poverty.
Why do this then?
Well, it could have something to do with the fact that the patriarchal members of parliament see young people, especially women, as a threat to their dominance of society after the mass youth protests that took place in 2019, that showed young women demanding a more prominent place in society, or it could just be the result of a group of paedophiles looking to sate their lust for young children.
Either way, their reasons are irrelevant. Should this alteration to the law come into effect in Iraq, South Africa’s government must lead a call for sanctions to be placed on the country.
It is the responsibility of every person to show their disgust. This is not merely a matter of a nation’s internal law, this is a women’s rights issue — a human rights issue — and must not be ignored.
Douglas White is head of circulation and subscriptions at the Mail & Guardian.