Iraq Wants to Legalise Child Marriage in Order to Protect ISIS
This year an amendment to the Personal Status Law No 188 of 1959 was proposed in Iraq. The proposed amendment, if passed, will give Iraqis the option to have family matters decided by either religious authorities or civil courts. If enacted, will allow for the application of either Shia or Sunni Islamic law, meaning Sharia principles will govern personal status issues like marriage, divorce, and inheritance for those who choose religious courts. This legal change has already passed its first reading in parliament, with two more required before it can become law.
The proposed amendments could significantly weaken protections for women and girls, especially those from marginalized communities in Iraq, like the Ezidis. The changes would allow individuals to choose between religious courts or civil courts for family matters, including marriage. This shift could pave the way for religious authorities to approve child marriages, as Sharia law does not set a clear minimum age for marriage.
This poses a direct threat to Ezidi women and girls, who are already vulnerable after the trauma of Daesh (ISIS) attacks in 2014. Thousands of Ezidi women and girls were abducted, raped, and forced into marriage by Daesh. Many are still missing, and those who survived are trying to rebuild their lives in a society that often fails to protect them.
The proposed legal change would legitimize child marriage, putting young girls at greater risk of abuse, forced marriage, and poor health outcomes. Ezidi girls, already marginalized and facing discrimination, would be particularly vulnerable under such a law. In practice this law is a way to legalise the crimes which ISIS-members have committed towards the Ezidi people. Although the acts committed by the ISIS-members since 2014 should not be classified as “forced marriage” or even include the word “marriage”, the Iraqi government will in fact classify the genocide acts committed towards the women as “marriage”. This is yet another example of how indifferent, aggressive and unapologetic the Iraqi government is towards the Ezidi people.
A Huge Violation of International Standards
Iraq’s international commitments, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), require it to prevent child marriage and ensure legal protections for women and girls. The proposed amendments violate these commitments and undermine progress made toward protecting women’s rights.
UN experts have expressed serious concerns about proposed amendments to Iraq’s Personal Status Law No. 188 of 1959, warning that they could undermine women and children’s rights. In a letter to the Iraqi government, the experts emphasized that the amendments, which passed their second reading in parliament in September 2024, would roll back key protections in areas such as marriage, divorce, and child custody. They raised alarms that the changes could worsen violence against women and girls and violate Iraq’s international obligations to ensure equal treatment of women and children. The experts urged the Iraqi government to hold a transparent, inclusive debate on the amendments and prioritize the protection of women and children in the decision-making process.
The Implication for Ezidi Women
For Ezidi women, the stakes are high. Iraq must reject these legal changes and instead focus on strengthening protections against “child marriage” and supporting survivors of violence. The government must ensure that all women, particularly those from vulnerable communities, have access to justice and protection under the law.
The proposed amendments would de facto block genocide survivors from seeking justice against ISIS-members in court in Iraq. While it is already extremely difficult for survivors to pursue justice through Iraq’s legal system, this amendment carries even greater significance, as it symbolizes the government’s protection of terrorists and Islamist.
The key question is: Why is Iraq moving toward undermining and further weakening the already fragile rights of women? Why is the government failing to protect women’s rights, and instead actively working to erode them?
Together with other developments, such as the end of UNITAD’s presence in Iraq and the growing hate (speech) towards the Ezidis, things seem very dire for the Ezidis – although they too are citizens of Iraq.
