Today, the age limit for getting married in Iraq is 18 years, in most cases. But with a legislative change approved on Tuesday, religious communities will have more to say in family matters. This raises concerns that girls in early teens – or, according to one of the Shia law schools, as young as nine years old – may be forced into marriage.
Opponents of the legislative change argue that the country's relatively progressive marriage legislation from 1959 is being undermined by the parliament's decision.
Human rights activist Intisar al-Mayali says that the parliament's approval of the legislative change "will have catastrophic effects on women's and girls' rights, through the marriage of girls at a young age.”
Proponents of the changes, mainly conservative Shia parliamentarians, see them as a way to adapt the law to Islamic principles and reduce Western influence on Iraqi culture.
