Marriage at 9: Iraq has enacted laws that may permit child marriages.

The Iraqi Parliament has approved amendments to the personal status law that critics say effectively legalize child marriages. Supporters of the amendments argue that they align with Islamic principles and aim to reduce Western influence on Iraqi culture.

This is reported by RBC-Ukraine citing The Guardian.

The changes grant Islamic courts greater authority in family matters, particularly concerning marriage, divorce, and inheritance. Activists believe this undermines the personal status law of 1959, which unified family legislation and provided basic guarantees for women.

Specifically, current Iraqi legislation sets the minimum marriage age at 18. However, the amendments allow religious leaders to decide marriage issues based on their interpretation of Islamic law. Some interpretations permit marriages with girls at a young adolescent age, and according to Ja'fari school norms, even at nine years old.

The amendments, which were primarily supported by conservative Shia lawmakers, have faced sharp criticism from human rights advocates. Intisar al-Mayali, a human rights defender and member of the Iraqi Women's League, described these amendments as "catastrophic" for the rights of women and girls.

During the parliamentary session, a law on general amnesty was also passed, which critics argue benefits Sunni prisoners and those involved in corruption. Additionally, lawmakers approved a land restitution law aimed at addressing territorial claims of the Kurds.

The session ended in chaos. Some lawmakers protested against procedural violations, while others took to the podium. A parliamentary official, wishing to remain anonymous, reported that half of the lawmakers present at the session did not vote, resulting in a quorum being disrupted.

The Speaker of Parliament, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, called the adoption of these laws "an important step towards strengthening justice and organizing the daily lives of citizens."

Recall that RBC-Ukraine previously reported that at the end of December 2024, the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab (Yale HRL) published a report that documented Russia's systematic policy of forced adoption and guardianship of Ukrainian children. According to the report, deported children from Ukraine are placed in institutional facilities within Russia, entered into at least three federal adoption databases, and handed over to Russian families.