Group Denounces Law Suppressing Rights of Iraqi Women
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Marcio Silva/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Human Rights Watch has come out swinging against a draft law approved by Iraq’s Council of Ministers that it says will remove most protections for women and girls in the country.
The Jaafari Personal Status Law, which still needs to be passed by the Iraqi parliament, would, among other things, allow the marriage of girls as young as 9 years old.
Human Rights Watch says the draft law is based on the principles of the Jaafari school of Shia religious jurisprudence, founded by Imam Jaafar al-Sadiq, who lived in the eighth century.
Affecting most of Iraq’s population of 36 million who are Shiite, the Jaafari Personal Status Law would effectively legalize marital rape and forbid a woman from leaving her home without permission, according to the rights group.
In addition, the draft law makes taking multiple wives easier and lowers the marriage age for girls to as young as 9 while 15-year-old boys could be married. In the event of divorce cases, children ages 2 and older would automatically be awarded to the father.
Urging the Iraqi parliament to vote down the measure, Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said, “Passage of the Jaafari law would be a disastrous and discriminatory step backward for Iraq’s women and girls. This personal status law would only entrench Iraq’s divisions while the government claims to support equal rights for all.”
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