https://www.ecdhr.org/child-marriage-in-iraq-a-year-since-personal-status-law-ammendments/
In January of 2025, Iraq’s parliament passed three crucial amendments which sparked global outrage. These amendments have essentially legalised child marriage, and further removed fundamental human rights, freedoms, and protections from women and girls. Child marriage has been an issue across Iraq even prior to legislative changes. With Iraq’s turbulent history and religious factions, the matter has not strictly been governed by the letter of the law. Since January of last year however, these issues have become institutionalised and legally permissible. The amendments were made to Iraq’s 1959 Personal Status Law, which unified family law and established safeguards for women. The Personal Status Law was a progressive effort to unify family law, and outline the rights of women with regards to marriage, divorce, custody, and matters of family law. This law also explicitly banned the marriage of women under the age of 18. Since January of 2025, women’s autonomy on such matters has been severely restricted, and most controversially, the minimum age for women to marry was lowered to only 9 years of age. There are several risks which are inherently tied to a girl marrying at such a young age, particularly pertaining to their physical and mental well-being. While women’s rights and freedoms are legally restricted with the new amendments, a surge in child marriage entrenches a dynamic in which women grow up accustomed to an asymmetrical gender balance, further normalising child-marriage.
In January of 2025, Iraq’s parliament passed three crucial amendments which sparked global outrage. These amendments have essentially legalised child marriage, and further removed fundamental human rights, freedoms, and protections from women and girls. Child marriage has been an issue across Iraq even prior to legislative changes. With Iraq’s turbulent history and religious factions, the matter has not strictly been governed by the letter of the law. Since January of last year however, these issues have become institutionalised and legally permissible. The amendments were made to Iraq’s 1959 Personal Status Law, which unified family law and established safeguards for women. The Personal Status Law was a progressive effort to unify family law, and outline the rights of women with regards to marriage, divorce, custody, and matters of family law. This law also explicitly banned the marriage of women under the age of 18. Since January of 2025, women’s autonomy on such matters has been severely restricted, and most controversially, the minimum age for women to marry was lowered to only 9 years of age. There are several risks which are inherently tied to a girl marrying at such a young age, particularly pertaining to their physical and mental well-being. While women’s rights and freedoms are legally restricted with the new amendments, a surge in child marriage entrenches a dynamic in which women grow up accustomed to an asymmetrical gender balance, further normalising child-marriage.