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Iraq has approved a bill, which has angered the international civil society and human rights activists; this law creates a loophole for legalising the practice of child marriage for girls at least nine years of age. He has not only brought back the issue concerning the rights of the child as well as gender issues in the country but also brought to the fore how some religious verdicts are being introduced into modern laws. Some of the proponents used cultural and religious aspects of Iraqi society to lobby for the passage of the law while critics are now strongly cautioning the Iraqis and the rest of the world of the possible effects the law is likely to poll in Iraqi society and human rights’ concerns all over the world.

Voting on the Iraq Child Marriage Law

One of the most socially andhuman rights organizations, child marriage has been a socially sensitive and contentious topic for some years in many countries. Recent legislation within Iraq changed the nature of the personal status law within the country to permit sectarian courts to hear and determine the legal age of marriage based on religious principles. This means that according to some of the Islamic laws the age of marriage for girls can be nine years.

This change does not even align with previous legal laws that stated the minimum marriage age at 18 and should be 15 with parental permission. By providing clergy with the Stand to trump the minimum set down by the law, this legislation seeks to perpetuate that which many consider has negative impacts on the rights and safety of children.

Why Activists Are Against the Law?

The anger from activists comes from such things as early pregnancies, use and abuse of young girls, psychological, physical, as well as the societal effects from child marriages. Critics argue that such laws:

Violate Human Rights: Child marriage is a violation of Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) to which Iraq has acceded. These agreements are intended to prevent children from being used in any capacity for economic returns or sexually abused, and for them every child should have an access to education, health care and be safe.

Hinder Education for Girls: Early marriages also lead to early pregnancies and forced early drop out from school meaning early marriage keeps young girls non education and economically insecure. This propagates poverty and inequalities depressing the standard of living for a long term.

Expose Girls to Health Risks: Early pregnancy as a result of early marriage can cause serious health problems for the woman, increased chances of maternal mortality and other life long health consequences.

Reinforce Gender Inequality: Failure to prevent child marriage perpetuates cultures of patriarchy, and thus cannot promote gender equality in Iraq.

Human rights activists for instance Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have denounced the law as a retrogressive measure that erases all the progress that was made for woman and children across the region for the last few decades.

Spirituality and Cultural Perspective in the Conflict

As for the advocates of the legislation the argument is made and dealing with this change is to respect the religious sensibilities of Iraq’s population which is mostly Muslim. Islamic canonic law or Sharia provides no clear prescription on the age at which marriage should be consummated. For example, excuse me, some of the Islamic law considers puberty as the qualifying age for marrying.

However, critics argue that modern society cannot continue with any nocive activities citing tradition or religion. That is why they observe that many Muslim countries such as Tunisia and Morocco have changed the legal age of marriage for females and made child marriage unlawful despite that eradicating this phenomenon threatens the culture.

The law also shows that Iraq society is clearly divided and sectarian politics forms part and parcel of the legal systems of Iraq. Since the legislation empowers the clerics to declare the marital suitability of the individuals, the law is likely to deepen the divisibility of the legal framework on sectarianism.

The future of Iraq and its people and most important the children: the global ramifications of Iraq’s child marriage law

The international community is particular careful with the decision made by Iraq as this may trigger the rest of the nations. Child marriage is still a problem in the world where at least, 12 million of girls get married before reaching the age of 18, as reported by the UNICEF. Laws such as the aforementioned Iraq’s law distort the progress of eradicating this practice in a way that indicates a solution within the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) every 2030.

Besides, this law may provoke similar minded nations struggling with such issues to enact more laws that hinder such progress made in eliminating child marriage. The law could also impact on diplomatic relations between Iraq and especially Western countries that place so much emphasis on this aspect in their international relations.

The Harmful Impact of Marriage Among Children

Child marriage has far-reaching consequences for individuals, families, and societies:

Health Risks: Young brides are at a higher chance of developing complications during delivery, which can cause obstetric fistula, which is very painful and has severe effects throughout the woman’s lifetime.
Economic Burden: This study pointed out that child marriage had impacted poverty and national development for the reasons that girls were being locked out for education and economic opportunities.
Emotional and Psychological Toll: According to the received information, child brides experience violation in the home, social exclusion, and potential and treated mental disorders.

Because of this, it is important to analyze the most successful experience of other countries in the fight against child marriage, which proves that it is possible to achieve change with political will, legislation, and cooperation with civil society institutions.

What measures can be taken in this case ?

Activists and organizations are calling for a multi-pronged approach to counter Iraq’s child marriage law and prevent similar measures elsewhere:

Advocacy and Awareness: If people are informed on the effects, they will change their perception and influence legislators on the issue regarding children.
Legal Reforms: It is important to enhance laws to clearly prohibit marriage below the age of eighteen also to remove all the exceptions.
Empowering Girls: Education and the provision of economic resources toward girls, helps bring down the rate of child marriage.
Engaging Religious Leaders: Engagement with uplifting religious leaders to encourage the dismantling of gendered harms is the other positive approach.

Iraq’s Child Marriage Law: Alarming bells for international intervention

The disputed statute in Iraq could not be telling the world that advancement in human rights is not a sure bet. This has raised alarms about women and children and the future, supporting the cause of calling for societies to remain vigilant in opposition to retrogressive polices.

As the debate progress, activists from Iraq, women, and children and other vulnerable groups must be heard. Citizens of the world also have a duty to fund and stand up for organizations that strive to protect rights of every human-being, and no child should be forced to be tortured, denied of his/her childhood because of tradition or religion.