Alongside the crushing news of Donald Trump’s re-election last week, another devastating blow came for women and women’s rights activists. The Iraqi government has reached the second vote stage to overturn the personal status law that regulates the affairs of Iraqi families. Implemented in 1959, the law was labelled one of the most progressive in the Middle East. Overturning it would remove women’s rights to divorce, child custody and inheritance, as well as lowering girls’ age of consent from 18 to just 9 years old.
This amendment would have devastating consequences. Despite the legal age of marriage being 18, UNICEF highlighted that 28% of women in Iraq are married as children in ‘unregistered marriages’ conducted by religious leaders instead of courts. Reducing the age of consent would legitimise this and make child marriage more prevalent, as well as putting girls at higher risk of physical and sexual violence, leading to a generation of women and girls trapped in abusive relationships, with no way out.
However, the amendment will impact Iraqi women differently. It will allow religious sects to choose whether to follow personal status law in its current form, or the new religious law. Women belonging to certain sects will be afforded greater privileges and economic independence, whilst others remain trapped in cycles of poverty and arranged marriages. The ultra conservative sects tend to be in economically poor communities, leading to a disproportionate number of unregistered marriages, meaning that a woman’s economic status will impact her access to basic rights.
Religion has also been weaponised to serve the coalition government of Iraq, which is comprised of conservative Shia Muslim parties who claim to be protecting young girls from ‘immoral relationships’ outside Islamic law. However, women’s rights violations in Iraq are actually a product of political, social and economic conditions. It is not a coincidence that the most conservative sects are also the most deprived. Regimes may use an incorrect or exaggerated interpretation of Islam to claim ideological legitimacy, but patriarchal structures, and a regime characterised by political repression, a lack of democracy and state sanctioned violence actually dictate their approach to women’s rights.
Terrifyingly, this amendment is part of a global trend. With Donald Trump’s stance on reproductive rights in America, and the Taliban’s extreme oppression of women in Afghanistan, it seems like centuries of women campaigning for their rights and freedoms have been fruitless. However, Iraq have not actually passed the amendment yet, and in August, a group of Iraqi women protested it in Baghdad, whilst the 25 female parliamentarians are strongly opposing the law in government. Women are refusing to be complicit in their oppression, think back to a few years ago when those in Iran were taking to the streets and burning their hijabs- and receiving global support. Even with Trump’s re-election, activists will not give up the battle for bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom. Patriarchal governments cannot prevent women from imagining a better future, so despite the heartbreak, we should continue working towards it.
“Saladin Governorate after capture by Iraqi government from ISIS (08)” by Ahmad Shamloo Fard is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
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Lowering Iraqi Age of Consent for Women Lowers Position of Women Further
Alongside the crushing news of Donald Trump’s re-election last week, another devastating blow came for women and women’s rights activists. The Iraqi government has reached the second vote stage to overturn the personal status law that regulates the affairs of Iraqi families. Implemented in 1959, the law was labelled one of the most progressive in the Middle East. Overturning it would remove women’s rights to divorce, child custody and inheritance, as well as lowering girls’ age of consent from 18 to just 9 years old.
This amendment would have devastating consequences. Despite the legal age of marriage being 18, UNICEF highlighted that 28% of women in Iraq are married as children in ‘unregistered marriages’ conducted by religious leaders instead of courts. Reducing the age of consent would legitimise this and make child marriage more prevalent, as well as putting girls at higher risk of physical and sexual violence, leading to a generation of women and girls trapped in abusive relationships, with no way out.
However, the amendment will impact Iraqi women differently. It will allow religious sects to choose whether to follow personal status law in its current form, or the new religious law. Women belonging to certain sects will be afforded greater privileges and economic independence, whilst others remain trapped in cycles of poverty and arranged marriages. The ultra conservative sects tend to be in economically poor communities, leading to a disproportionate number of unregistered marriages, meaning that a woman’s economic status will impact her access to basic rights.
Religion has also been weaponised to serve the coalition government of Iraq, which is comprised of conservative Shia Muslim parties who claim to be protecting young girls from ‘immoral relationships’ outside Islamic law. However, women’s rights violations in Iraq are actually a product of political, social and economic conditions. It is not a coincidence that the most conservative sects are also the most deprived. Regimes may use an incorrect or exaggerated interpretation of Islam to claim ideological legitimacy, but patriarchal structures, and a regime characterised by political repression, a lack of democracy and state sanctioned violence actually dictate their approach to women’s rights.
Terrifyingly, this amendment is part of a global trend. With Donald Trump’s stance on reproductive rights in America, and the Taliban’s extreme oppression of women in Afghanistan, it seems like centuries of women campaigning for their rights and freedoms have been fruitless. However, Iraq have not actually passed the amendment yet, and in August, a group of Iraqi women protested it in Baghdad, whilst the 25 female parliamentarians are strongly opposing the law in government. Women are refusing to be complicit in their oppression, think back to a few years ago when those in Iran were taking to the streets and burning their hijabs- and receiving global support. Even with Trump’s re-election, activists will not give up the battle for bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom. Patriarchal governments cannot prevent women from imagining a better future, so despite the heartbreak, we should continue working towards it.
“Saladin Governorate after capture by Iraqi government from ISIS (08)” by Ahmad Shamloo Fard is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
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